And The Lies Continue to Crumble

An AcceleRacers Fanfiction

By: Wings of Speed

Disclaimer: Look in the first chapter, you'll find it there.

Summary: It's hard to tell the truth from the lies when you're in so thick you can't remember one from the other or what was originally a lie and what was originally the truth. Vert discovers in a rather dramatic fashion that those he considered his closest relatives are in all actuality: the enemy.

And The Lies Continue to Crumble

Chapter 3: The Arrival of Bass Reflex and Livid Thunder

Courtney returned her eyes to stare up at Shirako and slowly drew her bottom lip into her mouth, her teeth nervously chewing on the tender skin. How was she to answer his question? How was she to answer it without revealing things that shouldn't be revealed at this time? To give him a truthful answer would reveal both her and Trinity's involvement with the Silencerz and she wasn't sure if he and the rest of his friends and teammates would be able to handle that truth at the moment.

Not with the collision that had taken both Trinity and Kara's cars out still so fresh within everyone's minds. A Silencerz vehicle had played a part in that crash and she still didn't understand why. She had a couple of ideas and theories, but that's all they were at the moment. Nothing conclusive that would give answers to the whys of the Silencerz involvement in that crash; nothing that would give her solid leads as to why the Silencerz were here and weren't trying to take their wayward agents back.

That thought brought up the question of the small device that Trinity had removed from Bass Assault before she left to look for a new car. Courtney was pretty sure that the small device had been a tracker, and if that was the case then Trinity truly being AWOL from the Silencerz was also up for debate.

There were too many questions and not enough answers to suit her purposes at the moment. Somehow, someway she would get the answers she was seeking. She just wasn't sure how at the moment. And until she had the truth of the matter there was no way she could divulge the truth to Shirako, doing so could put his life in danger as well.

She tried to give Shirako a forced smile, but it didn't reach her eyes and she watched in dawning horror as his eyes narrowed. He moved slightly, so that his larger frame was completely blocking any attempts she might make at moving around him and seeking escape.

"Easier to tell the truth about what?" he asked again, this time there was something in his voice. Something she wasn't sure about, but it was something that set an inkling of dread pounding in her heart.

Instincts told her that this man was not someone who liked being lied to, and that's exactly what she and Trinity were doing. They were lying to all of them, keeping secrets that could disrupt a lot of people's lives. They were keeping secrets concerning the Silencerz.

Courtney shook her head and hoped that her voice didn't waver when she spoke, "It's nothing," she lied, her eyes once more finding the floor, refusing to meet him head on. "I was just thinking to myself, that's all. Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

She felt like mentally kicking herself, wouldn't it be so much easier to tell him the truth, it was possible after all that the Teku and Maniacs could help her and Trinity out. Help them hide from the Silencerz. She mentally laughed at herself, that idea in and of itself was ludicrous. One could not hide from the Silencerz; if they wanted to find you, they would. One way or the other they would find you in the end.

Besides, she wasn't really sure that her cousin wanted to hide from the Silencerz. Was Trinity setting everyone up for a fall, including her own cousins? Was she still working for the Silencerz, all the talk of leaving the organization just a bunch of bull to put Courtney at ease?

Was Trinity even at this moment sending vital information concerning the Teku and Maniacs to the Silencerz? Did the Silencerz already know the location of Tezla's new base? That question was redundant, Courtney decided. It was apparent that the Silencerz at least had a clue as to where Tezla had made his new base, how else would Octainium have known where to find them at in the first place?

"Courtney," Shirako said, snapping her out of her thoughts, her blue eyes immediately meeting his only to turn once more to the floor below. He lifted one of his hands, two of his fingers lifting her chin up so that she was forced to meet his eyes. "There's something bothering you, that's pretty clear. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

She felt torn between indecision. On one hand she wanted to tell him, wanted to sing like a canary and unload everything on somebody, anybody. But on the other hand there was the fact that the Silencerz had taken out one of his friends as well as Trinity. She knew from the soft whispers heard from the others, when they thought she couldn't hear, that they didn't trust the Silencerz as far as they could throw their cars. Wasn't it a logical conclusion that they'd also hate Trinity and herself if they found out that they drove for the Silencerz? That they worked for the enemy?

"Hey, there's a truck coming up the road." Kara said as she passed by both Shirako and Courtney. She gave Courtney a strange look, almost as if she were wondering if the other girl had heard her and Karma's earlier discussion. She didn't say anything though as she continued down the hallway, paying no further attention to the Teku and Atomic Winds members.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The tow-back pulled up in front of the manor and it took only moments before there were several people standing beside the large vehicle, all eyes taking in the smaller car that was perched rather elegantly on the larger vehicle's back. It was a Lancer, much like its predecessor but instead of being two toned blue, this Lancer was a pure silver-white. There were blue and orange lines running along the sides of the car, much like radio waves. Beneath the radio waves were the words 'Bass Reflex' done in a strange color combination of molten silver and techno purple.

The windows were tinted a deep metallic orange and rods were apparent beneath the undercarriage, the underglo neon. There were about a dozen of the tubes, ranging from orange to blue and at night, when they were turned on they would illuminate the ground in a pyrotechnic display of light.

The driver's door of the car carrier slowly opened and a man stepped down into the blinding light of the noonday sun. "There a Courtney Brehm around here somewhere?" the man questioned, his accent apparent. He was from the central states somewhere, considering where the Lancer was coming from one would have to assume from Wyoming.

Courtney stepped up from where she was standing next to Vert, "That would be me," she responded.

The man tipped the wide brimmed cowboy hat that sat on his head, "Got a letter for ya ma'am," he said as he shoved an envelope at her. "The gent that sent this here car said to make certain you received this as well."

She took the envelope from him and just looked down at it. It certainly was addressed to her, but she didn't have a clue who it was from or why it was sent to her. She couldn't image Moon sending her a letter. Since Bass Reflex was Trinity's car it would seem prudent that if he was going to send anything it would be to her.

"You gonna open it?" Vert asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.

Courtney glanced up at him and nodded her head. She looked back down at the letter still held within her hands and debated whether or not she wanted to open it with others around. What if it were something from the Silencerz?

Throwing care to the winds she tore the end off of the envelope and took the small piece of notebook paper out that was within.

Courtney,

I was told once that if something ever happened to one of your cars I was immediately to send the replacement. I know what you're first thought is going to be…Street Thunder doesn't have a replacement. You're wrong. All five of the Winds' cars have replacements, a secret that Trinity kept well guarded. Shortly after Bass Reflex arrives Street Thunder's replacement should be in the wings. You can thank Leti for letting me know about Street Thunder's untimely demise.

Your new car has a name as well, Leti came up with it. She thought you would like it, if not you can take that up with her. Livid Thunder is a recreation of Street Thunder but isn't a Supra, Livid is a 2004 SVT Mustang Cobra with the same paint scheme as Street.

Hope you enjoy and don't be letting Trinity drive this one…I don't have this one's replacement finished yet.

Moon

Courtney looked up from the letter, tears apparent in her eyes. She focused her uneven gaze on Bass Reflex as a smile crossed her lips. She wasn't car-less after all!

"Court?" she heard Vert's voice. "Everything ok?"

She looked up at him and impulsively threw her arms around him in a hug. That was not quite what he had been expecting and he stumbled back a couple of steps from her sudden weight being thrown at him. "Courtney?" he asked again, completely thrown off by her sudden behavior.

"Everything's fine," she said as she suddenly shoved the letter at him. "Street Thunder's being replaced! I've got a new car on its way!"

"Great," Vert said as he took the letter from her and quickly read over its contents. "Livid Thunder?" he questioned as his eyes sought out the one responsible for the new car's name. Leti wasn't to be seen. Apparently she hadn't come out with the rest of them when they'd come out to see who was coming up the manor's driveway.

"When's it going to arrive?" Nolo asked as he stepped up to the two cousins.

Courtney shook her head. Moon hadn't said, only that it would be in the wings.

As if on cue another fully loaded car carrier cumbersomely made its way up the long and winding driveway. On its back was a red and white car, a replica to a point of the wrecked Supra. But only to a point.

It still sported the rising phoenix on the sides with the flames erupting on the rear of the car. Livid Thunder was done in white lettering outlined in silver across the hood with Atomic Winds done in purple on the front windshield.

The phoenix appeared to almost be riding on billowing clouds that ran across the bottom of the car, disappearing just shy of the wheel wells. There was a spoiler perched atop the trunk, reminiscent of what the street racers called a ghost spoiler.

Courtney's eyes landed on the red dyed rag top. Her new car was a convertible! Syncing this car up with Reflex would prove to be something of interest, there wouldn't be anything limiting the sound waves. The audio wouldn't be bouncing around within the confines of the interior.

The tow-back carrying Livid Thunder pulled up along side of Reflex's transport, the engine to the large truck suddenly cut out and seconds later a woman in her late thirties literally vaulted from the cab of the truck. Courtney sucked in her breath as she caught the profile of the truck's driver.

She took a step back, her muscles instantly tightening as a quick breath was sucked into her lungs. Her body automatically assumed a defensive position as her eyes narrowed in aggravated anger.

A low growl emitted from Courtney's throat as her eyes clashed with those of the carrier's driver. Apparently the gates of hell had been thrown wide open and the devil herself had decided to make a personal appearance.

Hmmm…another short chapter, but a nice cliffy if you ask me. The 'devil herself' won't be revealed for another two or so chapters, so you'll just have to wait patiently on that information…unless you're among the select few that have insight into this story, then you know exactly who she is. And those people know who they are.

Now Chapter 4 is currently in the works and giving me trouble so it might be a little while until it's out. This chapter has been done for about a week or two, but I needed to get someone's specific input on it before I posted it. And I was being lazy and kept putting off sending it to her…plus work likes to interfere with my writing time and work has been hectic as of lately. Plus I'm about an inch or two from getting my arse fired so I'm being very careful of what and how I do things at the moment.

Oh, and by the way, if anyone would like to check it out and since I noticed no one has done it, with the now open forums on this site, I opened one for the AcceleRacers. It's nothing special, just a place to discuss any story you feel like. Or anything else pertaining to the AcceleRacers.

Now to the shout outs…

ZachCoggin: Thanks for the heads up on what the original review was supposed to look like. The site seems to hate me as well when it comes to reviews. It won't let me review at all now if I attempt to do a signed review, but if I do an unsigned one, it has no problems. Can't figure that one out in the least. Thanks for reviewing, I can understand the whole idea of not reviewing till you've read everything, I do that on occasions. Then there are times I'm just to lazy to review…or the times when the site just plainly doesn't want to let me review, after attempting two or three times I just give up.

Dark672: Of course I know what you're going to say. The same as always, thanks again. It's greatly appreciated.

Firedragon: Nope, Trinity's the only one who likes Shirako. Courtney's eyes will be wondering towards someone else sometime in the future. I knew who at one point, but I don't remember now. Thanks for the review!

KawaiiYamato: I honestly think that sugar and you should be kept apart. No offense taken so don't worry about it, lol. Indeed, neither Karma nor Kara are on the stupid side and they will have every right not to trust Trinity. Not with what she's going to pull in the future. Court's not a very good liar…never has been and probably never will be.

Kara: Yes, I always know what you think. I've sent you two rather interesting little ficlets, but I'm not sure if you'll get them since the forums and I seem to be having issues so I'm not sure if it's giving you problems as well. I think you'll like Of Beaches and Volleyball, it will prove to be an interesting ficlet once it's completed. Hopefully you'll get your next update posted soon and get some more of your ficlets sent to me, I live for them! And I'll get chapter 4 to you just as soon as I complete it, but it's having issues with me at the moment, plus the other ideas keep flowing and seem to be taking precedence over everything else. But you have better get another chapter done of The Art of Stealing Cars, I want to see the story behind the little tidbits you sent to me!

Moriko: Nope, they don't trust her but they might want to be careful…cause she is gonna wake up and when she does, it ain't gonna be pretty. There's nothing like seeing a Silencerz agent in full control of the Imperative with nothing more than the completion of their mission on their mind. Woe be to those that get in their way! I'm so glad that you think that what I write is great…I have my own doubts once in a while but reviews like yours helps out greatly.