A/N: Welcome back to "Pedal to the Metal"! Enjoy!
Chapter 6 - Ride or Die
After 'liberating' Vale from his mother, Adam and his crew had almost immediately got on the plane back to Japan, only making a detour to clear up an old issue with someone Adam and Jamie had an old debt with. After wiping the issue clean (with a race, obviously), they got their cars on the plane, and a few hours later, they had landed at Hikarizaka Airport, and driven out the cargo hold. A few minutes later, they had pulled up outside the Robertson house.
After getting into the house, Adam and Jamie helped put out a futon for Libby. "It's fine, I'll take the couch." she said, before Adam shook his head. "You'll take it. At least until we either get you a bed, or you get your own place." he said, causing Libby to hesitate, before she nodded. "Fair enough." she said, before she dumped her bag on a nearby chair. "When does school start back up?" she asked, before Tomoyo hummed thoughtfully. "A couple of days." she said, before she lent on the wall. "If you'd like, you can come with me and Kyou to get your uniforms. We're going shopping." she said, before Libby looked to her and nodded. "Alright, I'm in." she said, before she pulled her jacket on.
"Let's go." Kyou said, before the three girls went to leave, but not before the two older girls kissed their boyfriends. "Don't miss us too much." Tomoyo said, before the two brothers smirked. "Relax, we're going to work on our rides. But they can't compare to you, babe." Adam said, before Tomoyo blushed and kissed him again. "Fair enough." she said, before the three girls departed, and immediately after, the roar of their engines signalled they'd pulled off. "Alright, Adam. Let's get to work." Jamie said, rubbing his hands together. "Good idea." his brother said, before they went into the garage and got to work on their cars...
2 days later...
After getting Libby her uniform, Tomoyo and Kyou had returned to the Robertson house, and both their boyfriends had passed them the keys to the Challenger and Plymouth. Since the brothers won the two cars, they had only allowed the girls to ride them when they were accompanying them, only for the girls to give them back the keys, so the brothers could work on them for them. But now, the two seemed to think that they had sorted out all the possible problems with their girl's cars, and they could keep the keys. This had caused their girlfriends to tackle them to the ground and barrage them with kisses. After they had let them recover, the girls decided to go for a drive, just the two of them, as the brothers helped Libby get settled in. For the days after that, they consisted of a lot of driving, but eventually, the school holiday ended. Groaning, the siblings got into their cars, and drove off for the school.
As the Charger, Skyline and Eclipse went to drive past the school gate, they saw the Challenger and Plymouth drive round a corner, then pause at a street crossing. Smiling, Adam pulled the Charger into the grounds, the Skyline, Eclipse, Challenger and Plymouth following him. After they managed to find spaces for their cars, which wasn't too difficult, seeing as the teachers and students mainly chose to walk or commute by train, the five kids went to enter the school, but the revving of engines caught their attention, and they turned to see three pitch black Honda Civics pull into the parking lot, and park next to the crew's cars. Adam went to go talk to the drivers, but he was caught off guard by who exited. To his group's shock, Tomoya and Nagisa got out of the first car, Youhei and Yukine got out the second, and Kotomi, Ryou and Fuko got out the third.
"Are you serious right now?"Adam laughed, as he, Jamie and Libby stepped up to the cars. "Well, you inspired us, in a way, Adam. So, we've been saving up for these for a while." Kotomi explained, causing Adam to look at her. "You mean..." he started, but Ryou cut him off. "Yes, we want you to teach us how to race." she said, causing Adam to adopt a shocked look. "Alright, if you're all wanting us to teach you, we will. But to keep up with our rides, you need 10 second cars, not 10 minute cars." he said, before Youhei laughed and pointed to the cars. "Pop the hoods." he said, before Adam laughed. "Pop the hoods?" he asked, before Sunohara repeated himself. "Pop the hoods." Smiling, Adam nodded to Jamie and Libby, and they all popped the Civic's hoods open, gasping at what they saw underneath. "V8." Jamie said, before looking to Adam. "What is it with people and V8s, nowadays?" Adam asked, before he turned to the Civic's drivers. "I retract my previous statement. We need to get you lot racing so we can make some money off your asses." he said, before Jamie and Libby shut their hoods back down. "These could decimate all, after, you put about 1 and a half million Yen in them." Jamie said, before Adam looked to him. "We'll put it on our tabs at the shop." he said, before he turned back to the rest of his friends.
"There's a garage on the outskirts of town, and the owner's an old friend. Doesn't get much business except from us. It's got everything we'll need. Whenever we're not doing work for the Club or school, I expect us all to be in there. If you can't find the right part in that garage, little racers, you don't belong near a car. Sound good?" he asked his friends, who all nodded. "Good, now, class is about to start. I'll show you the garage after school. Let's go." he said, before leading the Club up to their class. Sliding up, Libby whispered to the drivers of the Civics, "He owns you now. I hope you realize that.", before moving away. Looking at each other, the other members of the Club looked fearful for a second, but they firmly nodded, showing they weren't afraid.
After school...
The final bell rang, after Libby had been transferred into the class, and Adam's crew headed down to the parking lot, where they saw a large crowd had gathered round their cars. Scowling, they all marched up, and they saw a large boy was standing at the Charger, and they heard him whisper, "It's a damn shame to see rides this beautiful in the hands of people who can't properly look after them.", before he put his hands on the hood. That made Adam's blood boil.
"Hey, hands off!" He yelled, causing the crowd to part, and the boy to laugh. "Just wanna see under the hood, man. Is that so bad?" the boy asked, moving his hand to unlock the hood, but Adam ran up and punched him, sending him to the ground. "I said hands off!" Adam said, but the boy rolled to his feet and pulled out a carpet knife. "I'll be taking those rides. Hand over the keys." he said, pointing the knife at Adam, who had laughed. "Hold on..." he said, holding up a hand, before he pointed at the knife. "...Is that a carpet knife?" he asked, causing the boy to look at the knife, before he flicked up a nearby rock with his foot and kicked it at the boy, who dodged, before Adam grabbed him and slammed his head into the hood of the Charger, which didn't damage the car at all, but the boy was knocked unconscious. "Jesus wept!" Adam said, leaning down and picking up the knife. "I've been looking for one of these for weeks, but this carpet keeps turning up." he said, pocketing the knife, before he saw some people who were about to assist the boy halt. "Word of advice. If you're picking the wrong fight, at least pick the right weapon." he said, before he nodded to his crew, all of whom got into their cars. All of them then pulled out of the car park, the Charger at the front, followed by the Challenger, Skyline, Plymouth and the three Civics.
After the cars drove through the city for a bit, they pulled up outside a building that was identified as the Heavenly Pistons Garage. The students pulled up alongside each other outside the garage, before they exited their cars, and Adam led them inside. When they entered, Adam called out, "You in here, Han?" Immediately, a crashing came from the back of the shop, before a man came stumbling into the room, before he embraced Adam. "Good to see you again, Adam!" He said, before he spied the new number of racers. "Let me guess. You want to get this lot here racing?" he asked, the nod from Adam confirming his suspicions. "Alright, let's have a look at their rides, see what we can do." he said, before Adam nodded. "The three Honda Civics outside." he said, before the crew followed Han outside. After popping the hood on the Civic Kotomi had driven, he had started humming, quickly flashing looks over to Adam's crew, and scribbling something down on a notepad, before he went back to work.
"Alright. Finished." he said finally, shutting the hood of the Civic. "How much will we need?" Adam asked, before Han shrugged. "This would be a large job. If you're going for these to keep up with your rides, then at least 1 and a half million each car." he said, passing Adam a list of parts they would need, before Jamie spoke up. "Told you. I'll pay for one of them." he said, before Adam nodded. "Alright, put one on my tab, one on Jamie's, and one on..." he said, before Kotomi spoke up. "Make a tab for me." she said, before Adam turned to her. "My parents left me a large inheritance. I can afford to pay this much." she explained, before Adam smiled. "You heard Kotomi, Han. Mark it up." he said, before the man nodded. "Fair enough." Han said, before he went with Kotomi to set up her 'tab'. Nodding to the others in his crew, Adam started to show them what parts they would need to get for their cars.
Eventually, Kotomi finished up with Han, and Adam finished up showing the group round the garage. "Right then, now onto the next step." Adam said, before he entered the Charger, his crew following his actions. Immediately, he pulled off, the other cars following him, before they reached a quarter mile dirt path on the outskirts of the city. After all the drivers had parked, the three siblings walked up to their friends, who all gathered in front of their rides.
"What's this, Adam?" Ryou asked, before Adam smiled. "If you're gonna ride with us, you'll need to ride like us." he explained, before Youhei scoffed. "Oh, please. It's just going as fast as possible, right?" he said, his girlfriend smiling. "Forgive him, Adam." Yukine said, before Adam smirked. "Nah, it's alright. So, Youhei, think you can take me on?" he asked, before the boy chuckled. "Of course, how hard could it be?" he asked, before Adam shrugged. "You know what, I'll take it easy on you. Hey, Tomoya?" he asked, the blue haired boy raising his head. "Can I borrow your keys?" he asked, raising a hand. Nodding, Okazaki tossed the keys to Adam, who then smirked to Sunohara. As he did this, Tomoyo whispered to Kyou, "100 yen on Adam.", before the tsundere smiled and said, "You're on."
After the blonde haired girl had entered his car, Adam whispered to Yukine, "Sorry for the ass whooping I'm about to give Youhei.", receiving a smile in response. Leaning up, she said, "As a matter of fact, the more depressed he feels, the more I can 'cheer him up' later on, so don't hold back.", which caused Adam to smirk, before he got into Okazaki and Nagisa's Civic, and pulled up to the starting line, before rolling the window down to talk to Youhei.
"You know, Youhei, as much as they say your girl is a sweet, quiet girl, from what I've seen, she isn't as innocent as I first thought. She seems to be a purebred wolf in reality." he said, the blonde boy gripping the wheel harder in response. "To save you some face, Youhei, I'm going to give you this last chance to walk away. What's it gonna be?" Adam asked, before Youhei revved his engine. Smiling, Adam nodded out his window to Tomoyo, who stepped out into the space between the two cars. Pointing to Youhei, she asked, "Ready?", before the boy revved his car again. She pointed to Adam next. "I know you're ready!" she said, before she raised her arms above her head, waited a couple of seconds, then brought them down, yelling "GO!"
As soon as her hands came down, Youhei sped off, but Adam stayed where he was, placing his head on his hands on top of the wheel, before Tomoyo walked up next to him. "You planning on moving?" she asked, before Adam narrowed his eyes. "Right, about..." he whispered, before he saw a puff of smoke in the distance. "Now!" He said, slamming on his accelerator, and speeding off, leaving a large cloud of dust behind him. Almost immediately, he caught up with Youhei's car, which seemed to have blown a piston, before he sped past him, winking at him, before he sped off, passed the quarter mile mark, then made a handbrake turn, spun the car 180 degrees and sped back towards the starting line. As he got closer, he glanced towards the remaining Honda Civic, then pulled on the handbrake, before spinning his wheel to the side, causing the car to make a perfect turn, and finish with a perfect parallel park next to Kotomi's car. "Thank you." Tomoyo said, as Kyou put some coins in her hand. "Shut up." Kyou said, causing Tomoyo to smirk. As Adam got out the Civic, the Club cheered, before Youhei pulled up, got out his car, and slammed the door shut.
"Look, Youhei..." Adam said, before the boy tossed him the keys to his car. "Fine, you were right, now, please, teach me how to race." he said, before Adam nodded, and tossed the keys to Jamie. "You and Yukine, will be working with Jamie and Kyou, Tomoya and Nagisa, you're with Libby, and Kotomi, Ryou, and Fuko, you'll be taught by Tomoyo and I. Sound good?" he asked, all members of the Club nodding. "Alright then. Let's get to work." he said, as the keys were handed over...
An hour or so later...
The cars were driving home after the siblings had called an end to the lesson, and they were now parked in front of a supermarket. After parking, Adam, Jamie and Libby exited their cars, and walked over to the Challenger, Plymouth and Civics. "Keep an eye on our rides." Adam said, with Tomoya nodding. "Be back in a bit." Jamie said, before the three siblings entered the shop.
After waiting a short while, the three returned, Adam carrying a large bag. When he reached the group, he pulled out a large number of walkie talkies. Passing one to Jamie, Libby, Kyou, Tomoyo, Tomoya, Kotomi and Yukine, he said, "When we're on the road, we'll use these to communicate." With his crew nodding, he pulled out a walkie talkie of his own. "Right, now we've got that sorted, let's split up for the night. It's the weekend tomorrow, so we'll see you at the garage." he said, before his crew nodded, and they all got into their cars.
When they reached an empty quarter mile street, before the crew split up, Youhei's voice came through the walkie talkies. "Since we've got the basics of racing down, Adam, how about we all go for another race?" he asked, causing Adam to chuckle. "Nagisa and I are up for it. Let's do it." Tomoya chipped in, before Kotomi said, "We three are in." Looking over, Adam saw Libby, Tomoyo and Kyou nodding. "What do you say, Adam?" Jamie asked over the radio, causing Adam to look round to him, and pick up his radio. "We talking or we racing?" he asked, before Jamie chuckled. "Just don't cheat this time." Jamie said, before Adam smirked. "Gotta let that go." he said, before he looked at the traffic lights. "On green, go." he said, before all the crew revved their engines. Eventually, the lights turned yellow, then green.
Immediately, the crew shifted their gearsticks, and tore off down the street in a cloud of exhaust...
A/N: And I bet some scenes looked familiar to some of you, especially if you watch the Fast and Furious franchise. Anyways, hope you enjoyed. See you next chapter. Madman out!