Hello again! Now the action takes a new turn, as the racers are introduced to their cars. Tom is setting up for a driving school, and the birds turned humans are admiring their chariots. Without further ado, let's go.

"Welcome to Tom Fortnell's school of how to drive race cars fast." Tom said as the gang sat down. "Forget about those cars over there." He pointed to the road cars. "They're for someone else. I just found that out. So it looks like your first drives are going to be in your race cars. We agreed what everyone's going to drive. Right?"

Everyone nodded in confirmation. But Blu had some doubts. "Umm, you do know how to drive right?"

"Of course I do. I've spent half my adult life behind the wheel, driving everything from Army Humvees to Police Camaros. I'll teach you the basics." With that, Tom strolled over to a cockpit he had managed to gather for this lesson. Everyone looked at the interior. A mass of steel piping surrounded the cockpit. There were two bucket seats in the middle, side by side. In front of the wheel on the left was a racing steering wheel. Next to the wheel was a long stick. Underneath the wheel were two pedals. Tom sat down in the seat on the left. "Any questions?"

Jewel asked, "Tom, what is the piping that's all over the place here?"

"Oh that? That's the rollcage. In case you flip over, it'll stop the roof from caving in on you. Now don't worry if you don't know what all of this stuff is. I'm gonna explain what everything is in this lesson. Let's get right to it." Everyone was watching the cockpit, that Tom had gotten from an actual race car. It seemed that the only time everyone had more concentration was when Blu and Jewel's eggs hatched. Tom quickly reached for the seatbelts, and put them on.

"Seatbelts. Important things. Put them on, or you'll regret it when the high speed fender bender catapults you through the windshield. There's a seat next to me, so everyone can practice belting up." He watched as one by one, everyone sat down next to him, and put on the racing harness. He had to help with a few of them, but everyone got the hang of it. It was time for the next lesson.

"Lesson two. What everything does in the car." He reached forward and gripped the steering wheel. "Steering wheel. Possibly the most important part of the car. You turn it left to go left, and right to go right. Varying the amount you turn it varies how sharply the car will turn. It sounds like basic stuff that even a 12 year old boy can grasp, but you've never driven any car before, let alone a 500-horsepower GT3 racer, so I'm trying to explain what everything does. It'll save your butts when you go out there racing."

"Tom?" Nigel asked. "Why is the seat curved?"

"I suppose you mean these?" Tom tapped the side of the seat. "These bucket seats hold you in place when careening round a turn at 100mph." Tom then let go of the wheel with his right hand, and gripped the long stick. "This is the gear stick. When in a car, you change gears to make it go faster or accelerate quicker. There are sequential gearboxes in the cars, so you pull the stick towards you to change up," He pulled the stick as he said that. "And you push it away from you to change down. Now some cars don't have gear sticks. In that case, the gears in those cars are changed by paddles behind the steering wheel." He quickly released the stick, and returned his hand to the wheel. You'll find them here." He pressed against the paddles on the wheel. "You press the right paddle for up, left one for down. Got that?"

"Yes. Good explanation." Pedro said.

"But we don't see how the car will get going in the first place." Nico told Tom.

"I was just about to move onto that. You see my feet?" He pointed to his feet. "When sitting down, your feet will reach the pedals. If not, or if the pedals are too close, you might want to adjust the seat until it's at a comfortable length. Once you can reach the pedals, it's time to know what these suckers make the car do."

Everyone thought about driving and felt nervous, but Tom was explaining well.

"The pedal on the right is the accelerator pedal. You push it and the vehicle goes forward, or backwards if you're in reverse gear. Adjusting the pressure on the accelerator affects how fast the car goes." He then pressed the pedal next to it. "this, meanwhile, is the brake pedal. It slows the car down and brings it to a stop. You're gonna have to slow down for the corners, and this pedal makes it possible. As with the accelerator, pressure equals speed, so slam it if you need to stop quickly."

Tom got out of the interior, and proceeded towards the GT3 racers. "Everyone think they know how to drive?" The gang responded with nervous nods. "Alright. Everyone to their cars. Let's see. Blu, you're in the Chevrolet Corvette Z06R GT3. Eva, get in the Alpina B6. Jewel, you're driving the Aston Martin Racing DBR9 GT3. Nico, looks like you're in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3. Nigel, be sure that your car is the Matech Ford GT GT3. Pedro, your chariot is the Audi R8 LMS. Rafael, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup R is your ride." He strolled towards his car, and muttered, "And Tom, head to the Team Need For Speed BMW Z4 GT3."

Blu was feeling very nervous as he headed to his Corvette. Opening the door, he squeezed in and sat down on the bucket seat. Glancing over to the car parked next to him, he saw Jewel sitting in the Aston, who gave him a weak smile. Looking to the other side, the former Macaw saw Nigel dealing with the confines of his Matech Ford. "So this is what it feels like on the other side of the TV cameras." He muttered to himself. Meanwhile, in the Audi, Nico had discovered a feature of the cars.

"Testing, testing, 1, 2." Nico said over the intercom.

"This is Houston coming back clear." Replied Pedro. "How about some Hot Wings?"

"Ah, I see you have discovered the intercom." Tom said. "We can use this to talk, and I can give you advice." Rafael smiled over to the Alpina, while Eva did the same to him back in the Porsche.

"Alright. I'm desperate to get this started up." Nigel said. "Tom. Can you tell us how to turn on the engine?"

"OK. Follow the instructions. First, there should be a big switch called 'Main Power' somewhere.

Turn that to the on position." Everyone complied. "Next, flick on the ignition switch." Another silence while the instructions were carried out. "And finally, there is a big button on there marked 'Start.' Press it." Tom ceased his guidance as he and the rest pressed their Start buttons. There was a thunderous roar as eight engines rumbled into life. Tom pressed the push to talk button again. "Why not press the accelerator? See what your car of choice sounds like. You first Rafael."

Rafael pressed the accelerator pedal and gave the engine a quick rev. The Porsche's flat six gave out a shrill bark that pierced the air. "Nice."

Pedro and Nico were the next to rev their cars. Their Audi and Lamborghini V10s sounded similar, as they were using basically the same engine. They had a mellow mid pitch howl. "Good choice, huh?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, good choice indeed." Answered Pedro.

Jewel gave her car a quick burst of throttle. The Aston Martin V12 was a gorgeous sound, a very soul stirring growl. "Beautiful, just like me."

"I couldn't agree more." Blu said over the intercom. Jewel smiled at that remark, but was sure she could hear Nigel sighing over the intercom.

Eva and the Alpina were up next. The Alpina had a deep V8 roar that sounded more American than German. It was deep and rumbling. "You don't mess with a mother. Especially one with this car."

Blu gave his Corvette the rev. The V8 gave out a sound similar to the Alpina, but had a higher pitch, and an incredible roar. "Nice. Very nice."

Nigel was the last to rev his car. The Matech Ford had a slightly lower and more throaty V8 sound than the Vette. The supercharger of the Ford engine added a shrieking whine to the bassy V8. "Hello pretty birdies. Let's hope you can keep up with my dust."

"Everyone happy with their cars?" Tom got seven confirmations over the intercom. "Let's roll." The NFS Z4 pulled out of the pits and started to roll towards the track. "This is it. Practice session on the track. Get as many laps as you want to get used to the car and the track. Got that?" He looked in his rear view mirror. Seven race cars were parked in the pits.

"Uuh, Tom?" Jewel asked.

"Yeah Jewel?" Tom replied.

"You explained real good on what everything does, but you never told us how to operate everything." All Tom Fortnell could do was facepalm. Hard.

While everyone gets the crash course on how to drive in reality, check back at the end of the week. That should give me enough time to write the next chapter, and Tom plenty of time to explain the advanced details of driving. In the meantime, why not review?

Extra notes:

If anyone asks why I put each character in a particular car, then these notes should explain.

Blu: He's American and he's technical, so the Corvette is a good choice for him.

Eva: She's a mother, and she'd want one of the more practical coupes. The Alpina B6 also has a green colour that's similar to her beak colour.

Jewel: She's beautiful, and the Aston Martin DB9 is one of the best looking cars made. It also sounds good, and something was tugging at the back of my mind to put Jewel in the DBRS9.

Nico: He'd want something fast and good looking, and the Lambo LP560 fits both criteria. It's yellow too, and it's related to Pedro's car.

Nigel: He's the bad guy, and he'd want a menacing car. The Ford GT is low, sleek and has a growling engine note. It's also one of the more successful cars in GT3.

Pedro: Any car that's fast, sleek and red is a good car, so he'd like the Audi R8 LMS. Having a car that's related to Nico's ride of choice helps too.

Rafael: He's a ladies man, and does anyone else think that Rafael would be the type of guy to drive a Porsche 911 in real life?

Tom: The NFS BMW Z4 was the only car left. Tom also happens to be a fan of Need For Speed games, so Speedhunters' official entry in the GT3 championship would peak his interest.