Millennium D - Vol. 5: Return Of The White Ghost

A/N: You've all been waiting for this chapter. I know it. Enjoy.

After a few words with his housemates, Takumi went down to the garage to see whatever was under the covers; he swore he saw something down there when he came home. He yanked the covers off of what lay beneath, and he felt his heart stop.

There it was; this was his new car in its final form after a week of building. Gone was the cutesy, innocent look it had while it was stock - the Spyder was now a mean-looking hot rod. Thanks to the widebody kit, all the sponsor stickers and the huge rear wing hanging off the rear, it looked like a GT300 racer that came loose. Takumi walked, no, stumbled his way around his car, gaping in awe at everything that had been done to it. What really caught his eye was the beautiful graphic splattered over the sides; he was amazed at the amount of detail it had. And then onto the sponsor stickers. There were so many of them, organized neatly on the hood and on the doors. Blitz. Toda Racing. A'PEXi. Powerhouse Amuse. Enkei. Yamaha Audio. TRD. MoTeC. C-ONE. TRIAL. GReddy. Injen Technology. 5ZIGEN. Bridgestone. KONI.

Takumi noticed something shining under the vented engine cover, so he went to look for the keys. He found them resting on top of a tool chest, with a note underneath it. Before he could hastily grab the keys, he decided to read the note instead.

"Takumi-kun,

This is it; your car's all done. There's all the CDs you want in the disc changers. Go have some fun, big boy~

- Natsuki"

He snatched the keys off, which now included a pair of small remote controls, opening the door. Curious as to what lurked under the hood, he went for the little cover release next to the driver's seat, pulling it upwards, resulting in a metallic clunk coming out of the Spyder's rear. He wished he put his shades on when he opened it up, because what was under the hood was still so shiny and new. A fully-built, supercharged, methanol-injected 2ZZ-GE, surrounded by all sorts of chromed-out pipings. It had a carbon-fiber cover, which had TRD X YAMAHA printed on it in silver. Takumi gazed at the engine, like it was a treasure inside of a chest.

He closed the cover, feeling a rush of adrenaline fill his body. He knew the streets of Andretti Bay were packed with street racers every night. And he knew what to do. He hopped into the driver's seat and twisted the key, closing the door. The monstrous roar of the 2ZZ filled the room as it jolted to life, accompanied by the loud, industrial whirring of the supercharger. He pressed the accelerator, revving it up. The 2ZZ screamed, all the way up to an insane 10,000RPM in what seemed like a millisecond, while the Blitz supercharger wailed with it in sync. He looked down at the retro digital dash in front of him, causing his street racing memories to flood into his head. He couldn't wait anymore. He put his harnesses on, put the Spyder into gear, and dramatically wheelspinned out of the garage, making his way onto the driveway.

As he did so, he stomped on the gas and made his way into the gears. The speedometer's figures climbed. 100mph. 110. 120. 130. He felt himself get pushed back into his seat from all the forces he was experiencing. "OOOOOH MYYYYY GOOOOOOD!", he screamed. In contrast to the AE86, which simply felt like an extension of his own body, the Spyder felt like a wild, angry beast that needed to be tamed. Takumi dropped down to second, yanked the handbrake and spun the wheel, going into a drift. He felt the car throw his body to the side, as it went sideways in a beautiful curve, going around the bend. With a bit of countersteer and a bit of gas, he only just managed to keep the Spyder under control, and was going straight again, once again climbing the speedometer at an alarming rate. It didn't help that one of Deftones's heavier tracks was blasting out of the audio system, further contributing to Takumi's sensory overload.

Once he made it onto the freeway, he felt his foot drop further down onto the pedal. He weaved his way around traffic, getting the semi-slick tires nice and hot. 320 horsepower didn't seem like a lot, but paired with a slim 960kgs of weight, calling it a handful for Takumi to handle would be a massive understatement. He yanked the handbrake, and slid the Spyder around a long, 2-story corkscrew. "WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!", he exclaimed, correcting the steering once again, speeding down the highway. He shot past a bald man in a black Ferrari F355, who wondered aloud to himself, "How the hell is that little rice rocket faster than my Fuh-rari!?"

He spotted a sizable gathering of brightly-colored tuner cars to his left, and made his way over by drifting off the exit. People there were conversing with each other, but the whole block got quiet when the Spyder rolled up. Nobody had seen this car around here before. And it looked ready to tear things up. Takumi killed the engine and got out of the car, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He heard a voice call him. "Yo, Tak! Liking your new car?" He turned; it was Jake. His friends were all there, waiting for him. "O-oh, hey! Yeah, a lot!", Takumi said, walking over. He felt the anxiety wash away, seeing familiar faces. But among them was someone he never met before. He was in conversation with Suzuka and Koichi, sitting on the hood of a Civic. An EJ2 coupe, it was the same model as Natsuki's, but it was built very differently; full VIS Racing XTreme GT body kit, black rims, and blue-and-gold decals on white paint. "This is our friend, Danny Yamato. Danny, this is Takumi." The man looked up at Takumi, and asked Jake, "Takumi? The tofu delivery boy?" "Yup, it's me.", Takumi replied with a smile. "Damn, dude! It's great to meet you here!", Danny exclaimed, high-fiving Takumi. "You're a legend around here. People are dying to race you.", he continued excitedly. "So what brings you here to California?", he asked. Takumi was about to answer with something to do with university, but considering the number of times he told people about that, he instead decided to cite what was becoming more important to him. "Ah, well… new jobs… and the racing.", he heard himself say. "You're gonna LOVE it here, dude! We literally race here every night. Hell, there's a couple of guys lined up over there, you can go join them.", Danny replied. Taking notice of the widebodied contraption behind Takumi, he exclaimed, "Shit! Nice ride! That thing looks mean as hell. AE86 getting too slow for ya?" "Well… it doesn't even work anymore, for starters.", replied Takumi with a chuckle. "Jake-san… do you think I should go and race those guys?", he whispered. "Of course! Great way to test the Spyder out! Just be careful with the wagers.", Jake answered.

Takumi made his way to the end of the street. Stepping out, he took a glance at what his rivals were driving; there was a 1970 Camaro Z28, a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, a Nissan 300ZX, a BMW M3 E36, and even an Australia-imported HSV GTS. He gulped; aside from the Holden, which he didn't know much about, the thought of racing these high-powered tuners on an unfamiliar course was pretty daunting. "Hey kid! You here for the race?", asked the Nissan's driver. The other racers turned their heads to the new kid on the block. "A-ah… yeah.", Takumi replied meekly. "I'd like to race." "Alright, listen up folks!", announced a person he believed was the organizer of the race. He was a short, stout, bald man with a goatee. "Tonight we're having a 8-mile circuit race. 2 laps. We're startin' and endin' right here on this line.", he explained to everyone, motioning to the starting line. "We're going on the eastern section of Highway 28, and it's gonna go through the city center tunnel. Winner takes all!" And with that, he began to collect cash from the racers. Once he got to Takumi, he nervously blurted, "No bets, sir." The organizer raised his eyebrow. "You sure, kid? You won't get any money even if you win." "Yeah… I'm sure.", Takumi replied, getting into the driver's seat of the Spyder, firing up the 2ZZ, the sound of which caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. "Alright, cool. Good choice for a rookie like you.", the organizer said, before walking to the side of the road, signalling the racers to inch closer to the line. The noise of the racers' engines filled the air, as people began to crowd around the pavement, cheering them on.

The Holden and the Camaro did some burnouts, as the other cars simply revved their engines. All went silent in Takumi's head. His eyes were fixed, unblinking, on the road ahead. The 2ZZ's supercharger wailed as he tapped the gas. He had one hand on his wheel, the other on the shifter.

"THREE!"

Takumi gulped. He felt his breathing get heavier as the adrenaline in his body pumped him up.

"TWO!"

He began to think about the different tactics he may be able to employ later in the race. The Blind Attack was certainly out of the equation, but perhaps he could make use of the Gutter Run or the Intertia Drift.

"ONE!"

Natsuki's words echoed in his mind. "It's okay to lose. But please return safely."

"GOOOO!"

In a cloud of tire smoke illuminated by exhaust flames, the six cars lifted off the line. Being an all-wheel-drive car, the Mitsubishi got the best start, leaping ahead of the pack. Takumi managed to get ahead of the BMW which suffered from a slow start, but he still had the four cars ahead to deal with. The only things he could hear were his own pounding heartbeat, his breathing, and the wail of the Blitz 'charger. The Camaro and the 300ZX got further ahead, while he was side-by-side with the Holden. Takumi had the advantage; he was going to be on the inside in the first corner. He switched between the clutch and the brake with his left foot, quickly switching down a few gears, before going into a drift. He watched the Holden slowly inch backwards as he slid. Heading into the double curve up ahead, he fishtailed his car around to negotiate the turns. The rear felt very heavy; he had more weight to shift in an inertia drift. He lost some speed towards the end of the bends, but he still managed to keep ahead of the Holden. "My car is less powerful than the others, but I have a weight advantage. I'm going to prioritize corner overtakes, but I guess I'll have to hope for the best on the straights.", he thought to himself, heading into the fourth corner. The 300ZX got further ahead of him - his top priority was simply to catch up.

Takumi negotiated the 90-degree bend without too much of a problem, starting to close the gap, but he wasn't prepared for another that was waiting for him. He braked just in time, electing to grip this corner and gain momentum. He watched the Nissan and the Chevy tangling in front, as he negotiated the upcoming turns, getting himself used to the circuit. Drifting in an MR car in a race situation was much tougher than he thought - he would have to adjust his driving style on the fly here. There was no time for practice. Going through the final turn, he hovered his finger over a button on his steering wheel. Once he caught the rear of the car and was going fully straight again, he pushed it, causing jets of methanol to be fired into the cylinders of the 2ZZ. He was pushed even further back into his seat, trying not to scream from the sudden jolt of speed he was experiencing. He was headed straight for the two cars ahead. Realizing they'd rather not have dents in their bodywork, the two cars moved aside. Now it was three-wide, heading into the upcoming corner. Takumi pressed the button again, switching the methanol injection system off.

Takumi braked late, pulling a feint drift into the corner. He managed to shake the Nissan off his tail, but the Camaro got ahead. The Camaro, too, was equipped with a supercharger; except it was so big, it popped out of the hood. "That thing must have at least 700 horsepower… I need to maximize my weight advantage with it!", Takumi pondered, aggressively shifting upwards on the straight. The power-time graph on his Power FC Commander's screen climbed steadily. The tachometer neared the 9,500RPM mark. Heading into the tunnel, his car came off the ground by a few inches, but all the aero-induced downforce managed to pull his car back down onto the road after a few milliseconds. He imagined a path in front of him; he was going to dive down on the inside through the long curve in the tunnel. He dropped a gear and did so, once again sliding into a drift. He got closer to the Camaro and dived his car's nose down the side of it. But the Chevy's driver wasn't having any of that; he, too, went closer to the corner, in an attempt to squeeze Takumi out. His eyes widened. He had to do something. He dipped his front-left wheel into the gutter, going as close to the corner as physically possible. Sparks flew out from the bottom of the Spyder. Takumi held his breath throughout the gutter run, sweat running down the side of his head. He had to make a good exit if he wanted any chance to pass the Camaro. The deep, guttural roar of its V8 pounded against the walls of the tunnel. Takumi swore he felt his windows shake. He dipped his rear wheel into the gutter as well. He wasn't about to give up his line. And with a swift lunge to the right, he swung his car in front of the Camaro. The big muscle car behind him wasn't about to give up, though. It stayed right on the tail of the little Spyder, as Takumi set his sights on the leading car; the VR-4.

Takumi crossed the line. He was on his last, and final lap. He was going to have to extract all performance he had in the Spyder if he wanted any hope of getting close to the Mitsubishi. The VR-4 could almost be considered a purpose-built Japanese supercar; it was mechanically superior to the Spyder in almost every way. It had 324 horsepower right off of the production line, thus it was a no-brainer that this one was tuned to have way more than that. "Geez… is he planning to fly with that wing?", he thought to himself, thinking back to Keisuke Takahashi's RX-7 in its initial guise when he first raced it. Having gotten a good feel of the circuit, he managed to be quicker around the winding starting corners, blasting past the cheering crowd. He blinked, trying to get the neon lights out of his eyesight. Then came the double 90-degree corners. He wasn't about to make the same mistake he did on the first lap, but there was always the looming possibility of snap oversteer. He managed to slide through without much of a problem. There were now only two car lengths separating himself and the Mitsubishi.

On the straight, Takumi used a methanol boost once again, successfully catching up to the car ahead. He lined himself up to the tunnel and went down in it. It was the gutter run or nothing. He dipped his front wheel into the gutter once again, inching closer and closer to the Mitsubishi. The silver sports car's driver raised her eyebrow, having never seen a technique like this before. She attempted to block the move, but it was already too late; the two were side by side. Takumi was about to come out of the gutter with a dramatic exit like he did earlier, but suddenly, the Mitsubishi moved aside, taking a shorter line. Takumi had no choice but to mirror her movements, trying to just stay side-by-side. He began to feel the Spyder starting to be tamed by his skills, seemingly beginning to accept his style of driving. He knew what to do. He smoothly pressed the throttle down, moved up a gear, pressed the methanol injection button and entered his so-called "zone". "IKEEEEEEE!", he screamed, as his Spyder somehow overtook the 3000GT on the straight. The light of his brake lights turned into red strips, as he crossed the line.

The win was his.

Takumi dropped some gears, swung his wheel to the side and skidded to a stop. The crowd went wild, rushing to his car once it stopped, resting in a cloud of tire smoke. He killed the engine, and stepped out. He was drenched in sweat. He gasped for air, and rested his arms on the roof. Once he caught his breath, he felt someone hug him. It was Natsuki. She was there to watch him race. "Oh my god, Takumi-kun..! You won!", she exclaimed. She then got on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before quietly asking him, "Do you want them to know who you are?" "I mean, sure… no point in hiding anymore.", Takumi answered. Natsuki stepped back and held his hand in the air. "This is the tofu boy, everyone!" The crowd erupted in cheers and applause upon knowing that a Japanese street racing legend had just arrived stateside, and won his first race. Even the racers he beat were surprised at who they just tangled with. "Good game, homie!", exclaimed the Camaro's driver as he gave Takumi a slap on the back. "You're the quickest guy I've ever raced!", said the owner of the 300ZX, doing the same. Takumi smiled. He was surprised at the absurdity of his nickname over here, but he didn't mind. He was back to street racing.

He only got four hours of sleep that night, but he didn't mind, going to class with an upbeat attitude. Checking his phone at lunchtime, he found that he was texted something. It was Harry Jackson, the owner of the biggest parts store downtown.

"Hey Takumi. It's Harry. You're in. You're working night shifts on even days. Come along tomorrow, your truck's waiting."

CAR SPECS

Takumi's Toyota MR2 Spyder

Chassis code: ZZW30

Year: 2000

Color: Super White Pearl

Number plate: AKN 128

Class: sport compact

Engine: 2ZZ-GE 1.8-liter inline-4

Induction: BLITZ supercharger

Horsepower: 320

Max RPM: 10,000

Weight: 960KG

Body kit: Monocraft

Wheels: Enkei TS-7 - 18in, black and silver dish

Tires: Bridgestone

Suspension: KONI

Audio system: Yamaha

Decals: winged bullet; black and gunmetal silver

I do not own any property from Initial D, nor do I make any money from the writing of this story.

All characters and situations, created by Shuichi Shigeno, Rob Cohen, Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist and David Ayer are taken from Initial D (1995-2013) © Kodansha Ltd., The Fast And The Furious (2001) and Redline (early screenplay draft; 2000) © Universal City Studios LLC

This story is released under the GPL/CC BY: verbatim copying and distribution of this entire work are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided attribution is preserved.