Ever since the morning the team got up to the following evening it had been raining non stop.
The course was all wet and for most drivers nobody would even dare to think of driving hard on it, they had changed course to the twistiest course in all of Saitama and this time it was downhill racing time.
It was going to be tough on man and machine, Sweeper and Carlos were happy they were done with their battles.
Under the protection of a plastic roof the Project S team were waiting.

"Man it is going to be difficult driving tonight." McClintock said as he watched the rain pouring onto them.

"Rain or not, I got a job to do in this rain. Where is my opponent?" Chang asked as he moved out in the rain and over to his red NSX.

Keiichi looked at his clock and shook his head, the opponents hadn't arrived yet.

"They said they would be here at 2100 hours, but I don't see them anywhere." Keiichi said.

"Maybe this massive downwash created some problems for them?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, we will have to call it quits soon unless they show up; it is already 10 minutes over." Keiichi said while looking at his watch again.

"Wouldn't that mean we have won because they never showed up?" Carlos asked.

"Technically yes, but that isn't advantageous for us to do that without racing, we need the reputation we can get from this." Keiichi replied.

Just then a light grey Altezza pulled in followed by a red Cappuccino and a white AE86 Levin.
The cars parked close to the tables shielded by a plastic roof and Nobuhiko got out and greeted Keiichi.

"Sorry but I had to fix some drainage problems at home before I could get here, Waturo and Sakamato were helping me. That's why we are a bit late." Nobuhiko said with a sorry looking face.

"It is ok, let's just get this race over with, we will start with the downhill against the Cappuccino and your rally driver." Keiichi said.

Immediately that Keiichi mentioned the word "Rally driver", Carlos and Sweeper turned away in disgust.

"A stinking rally driver, well we got some guy who is out of his sandbox for today." Carlos commented to Sweeper.

"Oh yeah, even though he has a bit of an advantage in the rain he is still just a kid practicing around in a sandbox rather than coming out and playing with the big boys!" Sweeper replied.

Carlos and Sweeper ran back into the bus after throwing a disgusted look at the Cappuccino.
Chang pulled out behind the Cappuccino driver since Sakamoto had chosen to chase this time again.
Just what Keiichi had predicted, this time they were betting on Chang's talent in the rain.
Nobuhiko went out and did the countdown and both cars launched into the darkness of the mountain pass leaving only the taillights to light up their presence in the dark until they disappeared around the first corner.
In the meantime Sweeper had gotten back to Keiichi and Jane who were sitting and crunching numbers at the laptop.

"You really think we can win?" Keiichi asked.

"You know strategy wise, car wise it is going to be tough, the NSX is heavier than the Cappuccino…" Jane was interrupted.

"Well, if Chang begins to struggle in keeping up or if he gets pissed, his entire personality changes, there is a reason we call him the "Chinese dragon" he will drive like he was possessed by one. I can tell you right off the bat that some rally driver of any calibre will have a hard time taking out Chang when he enters that state. After all, it was the attitude change that made him Tokyo's fastest when he moved in from China." Sweeper said.

"How long have you known him?" Keiichi asked.

"Not for very long, well I guess it has been around 3 or 4 years I think, when I got my RX-7 I went out on a world conquering round heading off to the most famous areas for street racing. When I got to Tokyo I ran into Chang and beat him, it was a close match though and his driving really scared me. It is like he loses all fear and his shyness disappears like dust for a gust of wind when he gets possessed." Sweeper continued with some shivering as he remembered the race with Chang.

"Was it raining during that battle in Tokyo?" Keiichi asked.

"No thank god it was on dry tarmac, or else I would have lost badly, afterwards I saw him race some guy with an Impreza Version 6 in the rain and I was shocked at his driving. He was challenging the Impreza so badly even though the Impreza was at an advantage with 4WD. Not only that, he also shows great skill controlling that midship monster of his. Weather it is rain, snow or dry tarmac he can still make the car run as he wants it to."

"A midship is difficult to drive and he doesn't act like the type to actually control a midship like you describe. He seems dangerously calm; he doesn't seem aggressive at all. He is like a shy type, most people I see that are like that, they tend to spin out with midships." Jane commented.

"That is Chang for you, he looks shy and acts shy until the moment he changes, once he changes to his so called "dragon state" he isn't necessarily the best driver for a midship so to speak, but he can still drive it remarkably well. He is stupidly fast once he gets fired up, take my word for it!" Sweeper said while looking towards the corner that the 2 cars had disappeared around.

Down the course the Cappuccino were leading with Chang following closely at his tail.
The Supercharged NSX had a lot of power at the low end thanks to the super charger and some high end power making it a touge weapon.
Sakamoto looked in the rear view to see the flip up lights of the NSX following him.

"A NSX has a lot more power than me, but it is still heavier so I will make my move in the corners, I will have to try and outrun him as early as possible to prevent the same situation as the race with the AE86." Sakamoto thought and stepped on the gas pedal before starting with his rally cornering.

Chang was shocked by the entry speed of the Cappuccino and the distance began broadening between the two cars.
The NSX was running grip driving up to this point with a lot smaller tires than what they normally used to maintain control and prevent hydroplaning situations.

"I can't keep up with that rally driver! He is fast, will I lose this battle?" Chang asked himself as he kept chasing the Cappuccino that was broadening the distance at the corner entry.

Sakamoto was smiling as he noticed the NSX wasn't keeping up.

"You are too heavy; up on the mountain pass in the rain weight is important. I will keep running away from you, see you at the finish line." Sakamoto thought.

Sakamoto drifted into two more corners and noticed that the NSX was far behind now, almost in the threshold where the race would end.
However in the NSX, Chang's expression changed to a much more serious face than the more fearful expression he had normally.
He begun stepping hard on the accelerator and his line and driving style changed drastically.
The dragon had awoken, Chang was now driving at his best, at the limit of what his NSX could take both power wise and cornering wise.
He threw the NSX sideways into the corners much like rally drivers did, just with much more precision.
The gap between the Cappuccino and the NSX begun to close up, the NSX was catching up.
Sakamoto was still smiling until he looked in the rear view mirror and noticed the NSX was a lot closer than it was the last time.

"What the… How did you catch my car like that? I am driving at my best here and yet that heavy brick of yours can keep up!" Sakamoto was frustrated and begun pushing harder to try and get rid of the NSX.

In the corner, Sakamoto braked late and threw the car sideways in the best drift he could applying minimal counter steer.
Chang braked slightly earlier but dived into the corner at a breathtaking speed with his NSX and opened the gas pedal early to use as much of the power as possible.
On the top of the hill Jane was a bit puzzled with what Sweeper had explained earlier so she asked him to explain it again.

"Did you mean that he would literally be possessed?" Jane asked.

"No, it is a figure of speech, probably the best way we can explain it. He just acts like it so to speak, there is nothing inside him so to speak, and it is still Chang if you get what I mean."

Keiichi were talking on the cell phone and his expression changed to a shocked face.
After he hung up he turned towards Jane and Sweeper.

"The Cappuccino isn't pulling away from the NSX like it did earlier, in fact it is shortening, and they say the NSX driver has gone nuts. It is like he has no fear of the rain." Keiichi spoke while shivering slightly.

"So it has happened he awoke the dragon from its sleep. Chang got no fear once he enters that state of mind, he can still feel the limit of his car and determine the best way to attack however. This is what Chang loved with the mountain passes back in his day, I just hope this will clear his mind a bit, that he will finally realize there was nothing he could have done." Sweeper said.

On the course the NSX was now right on top of the Cappuccino, in the middle of the wash from the car in front.
But Chang wasn't affected; he had memorized the course during practice and was driving after that image.
Because when Chang was pushed, his concentration would reach very high level, after Project D did their races a lot of people said Chang was a lot like their AE86 driver in that aspect.
He usually denied such accusations saying that there was no relation between them, but when he entered his possessed state, they were quite similar.

Sakamoto were now desperately trying to shake the NSX, it was pushing him really hard and that was going to be Sakamoto's fate.
On the next corner Sakamoto braked too late from the pressure applied behind and under steered badly towards the outside.
Chang saw the opportunity and did his attack, pushing hard and blowing by Sakamoto as he was trying to recover.
Sakamoto was passed just as he barely dodged the gutter while braking desperately to get traction again.

"DAMNIT, I lost the race!" Sakamoto cried out as he let go of the gas pedal.

At the bottom Chang had parked his NSX and were looking at the steering wheel, while thinking.

"I did it; I never thought I would ever get that feeling again. Mountain passes are funny to drive, the thrill of high speed cornering and the timing of throttle and brake, the factors that kept me going at it back then, they are coming back." Chang thought.

15 minutes later the rest of the team had arrived at the bottom settling in for the hill climb.
The Saitama guys had gathered around Sakamoto to make him explain how they could have lost.

"How did he pass you?" Nobuhiko asked.

"I under steered badly in a corner and he attacked it, though in the first place he was quick at catching up, just like he had no fear of pushing that hard. It was like racing a demon of some sort." Sakamoto explained.

"A demon, I guess there is truth to the rumours I have heard." Waturo spoke lightly.

"Rumours? What kind of rumours?" Nobuhiko and Sakamoto asked.

"The guy you raced is called the "Chinese Dragon" those who has raced him and managed to push him hard, either making him pissed off or pulling away too much, it was like they had done a driver swap while driving, The guy they were racing changed his driving style completely, and they say he is godlike in the rain. Some guys have nicknamed him "God Rain" because he literally has no fear of driving in the rain." Waturo said while looking over at Chang sitting in his NSX.

"God Rain, I have heard a few drivers getting such nicknames but I didn't know of any God Rain. Neither have I heard of the "Chinese Dragon", know how he got that nickname?" Nobuhiko asked Waturo.

"Well he is Chinese by origin, and in China dragons have a special reputation and are highly liked. And they are also considered to be fearless creatures. Hence why they gave him the nickname after his first few races in Tokyo with his Nissan Stagea 260RS." Waturo replied.

"STAGEA? Isn't that a heavy ass Station Wagon?" Sakamoto asked.

"He raced it in the streets, he stopped using after getting a NSX I heard, I don't know about him now but he did have his own racing team consisting only of Honda NSXs. But that team disappeared after a battle I heard, I have no idea what happened in that battle though but something did happen." Waturo replied.

Sweeper parked his FD near Chang's NSX, as he looked out the passenger side window he saw Chang just sitting there in his NSX.
Quickly Sweeper got out of his RX-7 and moved over to the NSX getting in on the passenger side.

"Mighty fine race there Chang; you are just as impressive as ever!" Sweeper said while smiling to Chang.

"I think… I think I am starting to like this mountain pass racing again Sweeper." Chang replied as he turned his head towards Sweeper.

"That is good, the incident wasn't your fault, I am sure you are starting to get it now, don't you?" Sweeper asked.

"Somewhat, that Cappuccino driver gave me a few clues, but I still feel guilty."

"Forget about that for now Chang, it is time for McClintock vs. that AE86 guy." Sweeper said and got out of the NSX, Chang hesitated for a while before he got out and both of them ran over to Keiichi and Jane hiding under an umbrella each.

On the road, Waturo had gotten ready for a battle with the R34 GT-R.
McClintock had lined up his R34 for leading in the first run; this was going to be a battle of response.