The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
An AcceleRacers Fanfiction
By: Wings of Speed
Disclaimer: If you really feel the need to read it flip back to Chapter 1, you'll find it there.
Summary: The Silencerz plan to 'recruit' Vert is now put into play, but things may end in tragedy.
The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
Chapter 15: The First Step To Ruin
It hadn't taken a couple of hours to repair the damage done to Octainium; it had only taken approximately forty-five minutes. To say that the mechanics of the Silencerz were efficient didn't give them due credit. They knew their job and knew how to get it completed in the least amount of time possible.
Within an hour of arriving at the base, Octainium and her driver were leaving. There was one more stop to make before the completion of their plan was set into motion. If everything fell into place the way it should, they would have Vert Wheeler within their clutches in a matter of days.
Octainium's driver reached over and patted a small rectangular box that was sitting on the passenger seat. The purple wheel that symbolized the Silencerz Organization was etched into the top of the box and five simple words were written in bold letters on the side of it.
Bass Reflex Camo Skin Software.
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She'd been to five other car dealerships, each one dealing exclusively in Mitsubishi's. She hadn't found a thing she'd liked, not a single thing. Not a one of the cars had jumped out at her, not a one had said 'I'm the one!'
She wanted something reminiscent of Bass Assault, something that reminded her of her baby. Something that would turn heads, something that would be heard long before it was seen coming. The system could be added later, as it had been with Assault and later Reflex. Neither one of the cars were equipped with their original sound systems, the original speakers wouldn't have been able to handle the wattage that would've been passing through them.
But nothing had stood out; nothing was exactly what she was looking for.
So now here she was, the last dealership on her list and it just happened to be located in a ritzy part of town. The price tags on the cars confirmed that, they were all overpriced and there was no way in hell that she was going to be paying that much for a stock car. Hell could freeze over first as far as she was concerned.
She glanced at the silver and topaz accented Galant, her blue eyes momentarily landing on the price tag. She shook her head in disbelief. What, they figured just 'cause they were situated in the to-do part of town that they could up their prices by a couple of grand? They weren't dealing with some stupid moron here that had no clue about these cars or their worth. She was not going to pay a single penny more than what these blenders on wheels were worth.
She allowed her head to move slightly to her left, her eyes landing on the bright blue Galant that sat on the other side of the silver and topaz one. She could just picture what the price tag said for that one.
"Can I help you miss?" someone said from just behind her.
Probably in any other situation she would have jumped, but she'd known for the past couple of moments that the salesman was standing there. She turned around slowly, allowing a bored expression to cross her face.
"Is this all you got?" she asked and allowed her boredom and disinterest to come across in her voice as well.
The man smiled at her, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't consider her a real prospect as a buyer. He probably figured she didn't have the money to buy anyone of these cars. How very wrong he was, she had enough to buy the whole damn dealership if she so wished.
"What were you looking for?" he inquired, the smile on his face as fake as her interest in any of the cars.
"Not anything you've got here," she responded.
This took him back a bit and he allowed a frown to momentarily crease his forehead. "Just what were you looking for?" a harshness had entered his tone. Not very good customer service she thought to herself snidely.
"Like I said, nothing you've got here. All of these things are way overpriced."
He sniffed indignantly, "We sell all our merchandise at suggested retail value."
She allowed one of her eyebrows to rise in interest, "Whose suggested retail value? The manufacturer's or your own?" She walked over toward the bright blue Galant, one of her hands lightly caressing the paint. "This is nice, but the price is too high."
"That one was just shipped in," the salesman stated as if this should explain the price of the car.
She shrugged as if the bit of information didn't matter much in the long run. "Have you got anything in the lines of an Eclipse Spyder or Lancer Evo VIII?"
"Of course," the man said. "They're in the back of the lot with the more expensive cars." His tone of voice really gave the impression that he figured she wouldn't be able to afford them if she was having issues with the price of the Galants.
"Anything in dark blue? Almost a pearlized royal blue?" she asked.
"The shimmer effect costs more and has to be ordered specially." The man answered.
She glanced at him and raised her hand in an 'I-don't-really-care' manner. "I know that, I just wasn't sure if things had changed since I bought my custom Evo. Although the salesman from the dealership I purchased her from was a lot easier to deal with. Then again I guess money really does talk, especially in an area like this. I was willing to pay thirty to forty in cash to have one ordered but I think I'll take my business elsewhere."
The man spit and sputtered for a moment, his eyes almost bulging from their sockets. "Thirty or forty in cash?"
She turned to look at him as if he had grown a second or third head. "Of course. But you don't have anything here that interests me."
He moved to stop her from leaving the dealership lot, one of his hands going to her elbow in an attempt to escort her back towards the 'more expensive' cars. "How about we go take a look just to be sure?"
She smiled knowingly at him; he just couldn't let the possibility of a sale slip through his fingers, especially if the transaction was made in hard green cash. The sudden vibration of her jacket pocket caught her attention.
"Excuse me, I seem to have a call coming through." She turned her back towards him as she flipped her small phone open, after taking it from the pocket of her jacket. There was a message on the screen alerting her that the alarm had gone off.
Just in time, she thought to herself. She had set the alarm to a specific time so she would know when to make her phone call. Her very important call; the call that would set everything in motion.
She hit the contacts button and quickly sifted through them, searching for a specific name and number. Moon's Garage appeared on the screen and the small mobile device asked if she wanted to call the number. She hit the send button and waited for the other person to answer.
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The lights within the garage were lit up and there was movement apparent from within. Octainium's driver turned her eyes away from the garage windows and slowly walked to a spot behind the garage.
The area behind the garage was heavily forested and the shadows of old and dilapidated cars could be seen hidden amongst the foliage. There were clusters of wrecked cars deposited within the outskirts of the forest, some of the cars looked like they had been sitting there for years, exposed to the harshness of the elements. Broken glass and forgotten parts littered areas of the ground and one had to be careful where they stepped or they ran the risk of stepping on an old muffler or camshaft.
Octainium's driver carefully wove her way further into the depths of the forest, but not so far as not to be able to see the gently illuminated lights of the garage. It was when she was about ten or fifteen feet into the underbrush that she paused and glanced around her. Somewhere within the darkened depths of this forest was the something she was looking for. It was just a matter of finding it.
She held within her gloved hands a small remote and it was this remote that held the key to finding the elusive machines she was looking for.
Holding the remote at about chest level she hit one of the five buttons on it and watched in satisfaction as two cars materialized before her. Technetium and Accelium, the presumed missing in action cars. In reality, neither the cars nor their drivers were missing in action, only certain persons within the hierarchy of the Silencerz knew where the two drivers and their cars were at. Corporal Wheeler was one of them.
It was essential to the completion of the mission that she knew exactly where these two cars were at, at all times.
She walked over to Accelium first and opened the driver's door. She flipped a switch then shut the door and watched with a bemused smile as the car suddenly vanished before her once more. Then she turned to face Technetium and stared at the car in silent contemplation for a few moments.
Turning away from the rally-type racer she walked back to Octainium and grabbed the silver box from within her own car. Slowly she walked toward the silver and purple car that was Technetium. A rather evil grin crossed her face; things were going just as planned. Within a matter of days all the effort they had put into this mission for the past couple of months would finally come to friutation. Each piece of the puzzle was nicely falling into its niche.
From the destruction of Wyldfyre and Cobalt Blue, to the destruction of Bass Assault. The supposed involvement of Shirako Takamoto in the accident that had claimed Serena Wheeler's life and also resulted in the totaling of the aforementioned cars. The supposed disappearance of Accelium, Technetium and their drivers. Placing people near Vert that he believed he could trust…everything was falling into place and now it would only be a matter of time until everything finally paid off.
She opened the driver's door and sat down in the seat. She flipped a switch in this car and waited for the computer to respond. 'Instructions?' flashed upon the built in computer screen within the car.
She touched an area on the computer screen; 'Download new software?' appeared on the screen. She touched the confirm button.
A small disc drive popped open. She opened the top to the silver box and pulled out a shiny silver disc and promptly popped it into the disc drive.
'Download Bass Reflex Camo Skin?' appeared on the screen.
Once again she hit the confirm button.
'Downloading…' appeared on the screen. Seconds later a screen popped up confirming that the new software had been installed. 'Activate Camo Skin?' then appeared on the screen.
Again she hit the confirm button and watched as the car's body was suddenly engulfed in a bright purple light. Once the glow had died down she stared in satisfaction around her. Not only had the exterior of the car taken on the appearance of Trinity's Bass Reflex, so had the interior as well.
Now it was only a matter of waiting until the next phase of the plan was put into motion.
As if on cue she heard a phone begin to ring within the house that sat slightly off to the far side of the garage. The shrill ringing of the phone echoed on loudspeakers set up within the garage and Octainium's driver watched with a pleased smile as the man known as Moon walked from the garage to the house. If things went as they were suppose to, he'd be in the house for a while which would give her time to switch Technetium for the real Bass Reflex.
After searching for a few moments for the keys, she started Technetium up and drove the car around to the front of the garage, taking care not to make to much noise so as not to arouse any suspicion from anyone within the house. The garage door was sitting wide open and the back of the garage was lit up, almost as if it were beckoning to her.
She saw the four cars sitting there and the smile on her face died slightly. Wyldfyre sat there, its body twisted. Next to the tuner Sunfire sat the charred remains of Cobalt Blue, the once blue paint blackened in areas where fire had engulfed the body. Corporal Wheeler allowed her eyes to only focus on the Cobalt for a few seconds, she had a mission to complete and allowing past emotions to cloud her judgment just wouldn't due. She gently pressed the accelerator on Technetium and allowed the car to slowly coast forward until it was sitting in front of the remains of Cobalt Blue.
Putting the car in neutral she exited and walked slowly over toward Bass Reflex. She slowly ran her gloved fingers over the sparkle-flecked white paint, the coolness of the car's metal body reaching through the material of her gloves. "So, you're finally done?" she questioned the car.
Of course there was no answer, but she already knew the answer to her question without even being told.
Yes, Bass Reflex was done, every single system within the tuner hooked up and ready to rock, so to speak.
She opened the driver's side door and plopping down in the seat looked around to see if she could spot the keys. They weren't sitting on the passenger seat nor were they underneath either the driver or passenger's seat. Glancing up she caught the smallest glint of metal. "Ah, there you are!" she softly exclaimed as she pulled the sun visor down and the keys for the car fell into her lap.
"Time to get you out of here," she said softly to the car. "Unlike your sister, nothing's going to happen to you. You're not destined for the same fate as Assault was."
She placed the key in the ignition and turned it gently. Nothing happened, not even a slight attempt for the motor to turn over. She raised an eyebrow in question and wondered if her information on the condition for the car was correct. She had been told it was ready, had been told that its modifications were complete.
She tried the key again and was rewarded with a quick start up this time. Her eyes quickly took in system monitors and gages, making sure that everything was where it was suppose to be. Everything was in the green and the engine was softly rumbling.
"Time to get you out of here and set up with your partner in crime, Accelium," she said softly to the car as she gently applied pressure to the accelerator. She didn't give the white Lancer too much gas, not wanting the rumbling of the engine to alert anyone within the house.
Coasting the car out of the garage she turned it toward the same spot in the darkened woods that Technetium had only moments before claimed. Once she had the car situated in its new parking spot she killed the engine and removed the key from the ignition. Pocketing the key she quickly jogged back into the garage where the fake 'Bass Reflex' was still sitting in front of Cobalt Blue.
She threw 'Reflex' into reverse and swung the car around and within moments had the fake situated in the spot that the original had only seconds before occupied. Putting the keys for Technetium up in the sun visor she quickly exited the garage and made a quick retreat to her own car.
Her final ploy in the mission had been played and now everything was up to Accelium and Technetium's drivers. The success of the plan now rested solely on their shoulders and if they somehow managed to screw things up…it was a thought not worth completing, the implications and ramifications to disturbing to think about.
Activating the cloak on Octainium, she pulled the car from its hiding spot and drove away from the garage, no one the wiser to her activities. Once she was far enough away she pulled the cloaked Silencerz vehicle onto a side road and parked it there, there was still one more thing that needed to be done.
She pulled a small silver and purple cell phone from a pocket on her jumpsuit and quickly entered in a series of numbers. A message appeared on the screen asking what she wanted to do. She selected 'Send a New Text' and waited for the new screen to pop up on the small screen of the cell.
Once the screen appeared she typed in a small and simple message: Tech is ready, the ball is now in your Court.
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"Thanks Moon," Trinity said just moments before ending the call and placing her phone back in the pocket of her jacket. She turned her attention back to the salesman and gave him a smile that was forced regret. "So sorry, but that was a friend of mine. He's got some connections with a dealership up in Wyoming and managed to snag me a fresh off the line Evo."
"What was the asking price? We could do better." the man inquired, not liking the idea of a sale passing him by. That was money out of his pocket after all.
"I doubt it," she answered as she turned on the ball of her foot, preparing to leave the lot.
"We could get you the same type of car for a couple thousand less and painted in whatever color you'd like free of charge. You just name it."
Trinity gave him a smile that implied sorryness, but it didn't show in her eyes. "I really doubt it. My friend is going to pick it up from the dealership than add some modifications and performance upgrades to it before having it shipped down here." She turned around to walk back toward her cousin's Supra then paused in her stride, throwing over her shoulder, "Now if you could add all the upgrades and modifications free of charge we might have ourselves a deal, but I really doubt you've got those kind of connections."
The man's mouth worked, opening and closing, but no sound came out. He stared in disbelief as the young woman got into a tuned up Toyota Supra, the red car's tires squealing in protest as she threw it into a hard turn.
"Great," he murmured beneath his breath. "There goes a nice commission sale. Wish I would've known ahead of time that she was one of those damn street racers, they always seem to have money to throw around!"
Trinity kicked Street Thunder into the next gear, listening as the car purred in response. The sudden vibration of her phone caught her attention again. She pushed a button on the stereo and the music dropped in intensity so that she could actually hear the light tone of her phone. She had set it to ring and vibrate after ending her call with Moon.
Grabbing her phone from her jacket again she flipped it open and looked at the screen. New text message was flashing at her. From Serena, she thought to herself as she punched the button to show the text.
She read over the text quickly, her eyes darting from phone screen to the road in front of her, making sure that there was no oncoming traffic to worry about. Or cops for that matter.
Flipping the phone shut, she allowed her thoughts to wonder as her eyes stared blankly at the road before her. Her mind went on auto pilot as she navigated back to the manor that Vert and his friends were now occupying.
Her blue orbs were troubled as her mind sifted through exactly what it was that she was doing. For the first time she was experiencing regret and she didn't like it. It wasn't part of her nature and now was a fine time for it to decide to rear its ugly head!
She had a mission to complete and nothing could get in the way of that! There were people depending on her, people that she couldn't fail.
You're failing Vert or doesn't he count now? A little voice spoke up in the back of her mind and she attempted to force it into silence.
What I'm doing is for Vert's own good. He should have a chance to shine, to show what he can actually do and staying with these people isn't going to give him that chance. They're holding him back, keeping him from discovering his true potential. She argued with the voice, trying to make it see reason. Or was she trying to make herself see reason?
He's happy where he's at. Do you think he'll be happy if you force him into the Silencerz? He'll hate you if you force this on him.
He'll discover in time that he belongs with us. He'll see we did him a favor. He'll get over whatever issues he may have with the Silencerz and see that he's better off with us. Better off with his family. She reasoned, but even she could sense the doubt in her own argument.
Will he really?
In the end, yes he will.
The little voice sniggered, or at least that's what it sounded like. You weren't very happy when Uncle Jack forced you into the ranks of the Silencerz. You wanted to be your own person, your own racer. You didn't want to take commands from no one; you wanted to continue in your leadership of the Winds.
I'm still the leader of the Winds!
Yeah, only the part time leader. Leti leads them when you're not around, which is more often than not any more. You spend most of your time with the Silencerz, being their little guinea pig. They've brainwashed you into believing everything they say, believing that they can do no wrong.
There was no argument for that. It was true, she hadn't been happy when she had originally been inducted into the ranks of the Silencerz. She had been in the military, one of the mechanics for their ATV's and other vehicles and she had uncanny knowledge of the workings of any car engine. It hadn't taken long before the brass of the Silencerz had taken an interest in her and shorter still before they started making plans to have her shipped into their ranks.
She had fought tooth and nail at first until she had been given a glimpse of Technetium. That had been all it had taken. She wanted the car with a passion she had never known existed.
No comment? The little voice quipped, knowing it had gotten her hook, line and sinker.
I could leave the Silencerz any time I please.
The little voice snickered again. Do you honestly believe that? They would never allow you to leave, you know too much. They'd just as soon let you go as they would your uncle or your sister. You're in to deep with no way to escape and they know this. Why else do you think they'd put you and Serena on a mission like this.
Trinity slammed her fist into the steering wheel of Street Thunder and heard the resounding crunch of bone. She cursed beneath her breath as her fingers began to throb in an unholy rhythm.
Can you honestly betray him without feeling an ounce of guilt? If so, then you're further under their influence then even you could believe.
She ground her foot against the accelerator and felt the engine lurch forward as the power suddenly slammed through the car. Her good hand tightened on the steering wheel as she argued with her conscious.
You wouldn't only be betraying him; you'd be betraying the rest of them.
Who cares about the rest of them, I don't owe them a damn thing! She ground out, hating herself so very much at the moment. This was an argument she was destined not to win. There was no way possible to win against one's self!
Her inner voice chuckled at this. You may not owe them a damn thing, but what about yourself? You're attracted to Vert's friend and you can't tell me otherwise. I was there after all.
That was nothing!
There was what resembled a snort. Nothing my ass. He stirred something within you, something you haven't allowed yourself to feel since-
Don't you even dare go there! She screamed at herself just as she was coming up to a sharp hairpin turn. She over estimated the sharpness and felt the backend of Street Thunder kick out from beneath her. She tried compensating for the sudden out of control spin but she corrected too much and sent the car spinning in the opposite direction.
Everything was spinning by to quickly, ass-end spinning around in attempts to meet the front. The tires were screeching in protest as gray smoke billowed up in all directions. She cut the steering wheel sharply, vainly hoping to regain some control of the wildly careening car.
It was a hopeless move as the car continued to careen out of control. Tires continued to scream in protest as suddenly one was ripped right from the rim, metal clashing against asphalt and sending sparks flying into the air. The fingers of her broken hand tightened on the steering wheel as her other hand went to the e-brake, hoping against hope that that at least would help in some way.
Grabbing the e-brake roughly she pulled it up as far as it would go but nothing happened. The Supra continued in its wild spin, the scenery flashing past in maddening revolutions.
All motion stopped instantaneously as the car slammed broadside into a telephone pole, just behind the driver's door. Then everything was silent, save for the still rumbling engine, but after the passage of a few seconds even that to gave way to silence.
And so we have another cliffhanger. Trinity manages to utterly and completely destroy yet another car, but this time it wasn't her own and there's no backup for this one. And now she has to deal with Courtney, who didn't want her taking Street Thunder in the first place.
The heat is on as the Silencerz continue to close in on Vert and he doesn't even suspect a thing…at least not yet.
Comments? Guesses on what you think is going to happen next? Then by all means, leave them in a review. I can not stress enough how much I enjoy reading the reviews you leave.
Now, onto the shout outs to those that left anon. reviews:
RacerBoy-Chase: Glad to see that you've gotten your own account. Keep up the good work on your own story and I'll see what I can do with my own. I honestly can't wait for your next chapter. Hope to see the companion piece out soon as well, but don't quit on Neo, I'm enjoying it so far.
Kara: Yeah, Serena is rather evil. But you already know that since you basically know everything that's going to happen now, lol. I'll catch you on the forums at some point soon I hope.
Dark672: Good as always. Glad to know.
Moriko: blinks I honestly don't think I want to face the wrath of Wylde so yeah…here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Glad the last chapter was a kinda unexpected thing, that's what I'm going for with this story. I think everything is basically out in the light now…at least concerning Serena, Trinity and the Silencerz. Just please don't sick Wylde after me! Shirako maybe, but not Wylde, he just scares me sometimes, lol.