I was giving it some thought during this chapter, and for the sake of simplicity and my own ease of writing, cars drive on the left side of the road and all cars are righthand drive. This is just due to me being an Aussie and that's what I'm used to here. So regardless of what the cars are like in our world – I.e., the Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda that Natsu owns is a lefthand drive car as it's an American car – every one of them is setup for Fiorian standards which I interpret as Japanese standards, which is the same here in Aus; driving on the left side of the road, driver on the right side of the car, and measurements in metric.

"Hey Natsu? Could you come and give me a hand?"

Natsu glanced at the open door that led into the house from the garage. "Do you need me right away, Luce, or can I finish this up?" He called out to the woman as he went back to affixing the wheels back onto the Black Mamba. He had just finished replacing the brake pads on his car and was almost finished the job when Lucy called out to him. "I'm almost done."

"Yeah, just be quick."

Natsu slipped the front left rim over the studs and fastened down the wheel nuts with his impact wrench. He darted to the other side and did the front right and with the last nuts torqued down, he placed his tools away and headed into the kitchen where he was greeted with a tight hug from a blonde pseudo-succubus. "What did you need?"

"The oven mitts died…" Lucy pouted as she held up a pair of black mitts that had broken apart at the seams. "How old were these?"

"I don't remember." The pinkette chuckled softly. He opened the oven door and took out the dish containing their pork roast dinner. He placed it on the heat-proof mat Lucy had placed on the bench and began to serve up their food. "Can you let Happy know that dinner is ready?"

Lucy kissed the man's cheek, and with the swish of her heart-tipped tail, she darted up the stairs. She knocked on Happy's door and gently pushed it open as the cat-eared teen glanced up from his studies at his desk. "Dinner is ready."

"Alright, I'll be down in a second. I just need to finish this."

Lucy smiled and hurried back down stairs. She sat down next to Natsu at their small table and rested her head against his shoulder. "He won't be long."

"Has Mavis talked to you about work?"

"Yeah. Before I go out on my own jobs, she'll be running me through simulated missions to see how well we work together and get a proper feeling for what I can do."

"Alright. I'm not going to be holding your hand through jobs anymore, you've proven yourself a capable agent. And remember, you won't always be able to zip around like you do with Traverse; like if you were in a crowded area, someone vanishing instantly would cause a stir."

"I'll be cautious."

"Good." Natsu smiled softly as Happy came racing down the stairs and jogged over to the table.

"Sorry for the wait, I wanted to finish what I was working on otherwise I might lose my train of thought." Once the exceed sat down, they began to eat. But he remembered something halfway through dinner. "Oh, Natsu! I need you to sign an excursion form. We have a trip to a chocolate factory on Tuesday next week."

"Alright, I'll do it after dinner."

"Oh, can you buy me some chocolates if they have any for sale there?" Lucy leaned forward with excitement flashing in her chocolate brown eyes. "I'll give you some cash for it, so don't worry about having to spend your money on me."

"The teachers told us that the opportunity is there, so I can definitely get some for you, Lucy!" Happy smiled broadly. "I'll take a cooler bag with me so they don't melt in my backpack."

"Thank you!" The blonde giggled and she threw her arms around the catboy, giving him a firm hug before sitting back down and returning to her meal. "If I'm out on a job when you come back from it, just leave it in the fridge for me please."

"Alright."

Natsu picked up his empty plate and headed for the kitchen. "Luce, since you handled dinner, let me clean up."

"Okay!" Lucy smiled and followed soon after with her own plate. She placed it down next to the sink and wrapped her arms around the man's chest with her head resting against his back. "Mm, you're so warm~. Do you want to come and snuggle on the couch?"

"I will for a little bit but I need to take the car out to make sure it's all working fine after the little bit of maintenance that I've done."

"Sweet! I'll find us a show to watch."

Natsu felt the woman pull away and turned his head just in time to catch the swish of her heart-tipped tail as she bolted from the kitchen. Happy came in a moment later with his empty plate and he placed it down next to the sink. "Ah, Happy, you might be having another Exceed coming here. Like you, she had been found by a dragon slayer. I think you might remember her from our visits to your parents in Typha. She's Shagotte's daughter, Carla."

"Oh, I remember her. She's cute, but a little full of herself."

"Like you, she prefers a hybrid form; a human with exceed features." Once the dishes had been washed, he stacked them on the drying rack beside the sink and dried his hands on a hand towel while he turned to the teen. "I haven't spoken to Wendy yet as Layla needs to give her my number. But I think Carla will be transferring into your year and Wendy will be coming to work at the hospital attached to headquarters."

"Will they be staying here?" Happy asked, gazing up at his adoptive father with his head tilted curiously.

"Not sure yet. Once she contacts me and we can work things out, I'll let you know."

"Okay!" The blue-haired teen smiled broadly, revealing his feline fangs. He hurried from the kitchen but paused for a moment at the archway entrance. "I'm going to head back up and finish off my assessment."

"Alright. Once you've finished it, you can play some games before bed. Just let Lucy have the TV for a bit to watch her shows." Natsu folded the small towel and hung it on the rack attached to the cupboards then headed for the loungeroom as Happy's footsteps drummed up the stairs. He found Lucy lying down on her stomach atop collection of cushions on one of the couches, her tail slowly swishing above her ass which had caused her skirt to bunch up at her hips. "You know, you're practically asking me to spank you when you have your arse on display like that."

"Who's to say that isn't what I want~?" Lucy purred playfully as she glanced back over her shoulder at the man. She wiggled her hips alluringly and brought her knees up a little to make her ass more pronounced. "I might've also wanted a big surprise to be slid into me~."

Natsu laid down against the woman's back and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips as his arms snaked around her waist. She groaned softly under him and the wings and tail were suddenly dispelled so they could lie flush against each other.

"So warm~."

"What are we going to watch?"

"That Highway Patrol show." Lucy reached out and grabbed the remote from the coffee table and flicked through the channels until she found the right one. "I wonder if you've ever been on it?"

"I've seen my car on a few episodes, but they've never been able to catch me in the act of racing or speeding excessively." Natsu blinked at the sudden lack of a soft body underneath him and he looked to the other couch where Lucy was getting to her feet with a mirthful smile. "Need to use the bathroom?"

"Not yet. I wanted to sit on your lap." The blonde giggled softly and walked to a leather chair. She waited for the man to take a seat on it and gleefully tossed herself down onto his lap. Lucy brought up her legs and tucked them under her – one either side of the man – and rotated her hips slowly, grinding her ass in slow circles against Natsu's lap. "Our internal messaging system is private, right?"

"Yes, and there are policies in place to prevent breach of privacy within the company by all personnel, including techies. Why?"

"Because since you've handed me off to Mavis for jobs, I wanted to know if it was possible for me to send you pictures…" Lucy paused her movements for a moment then glanced back at him. "Nudes. I want to send you nudes while either you or I are away on missions."

"Oh." Natsu laughed and grabbed the woman's hips lightly. "That's fine then. It's pretty common actually. Bisca and Al do that a lot. So yeah, just send them to my private account and not my work one, I'd rather those don't pop up on my work computer."

"Heh, I'll be sure to send them to the right one." Lucy giggled softly. She trembled softly as a shiver ran up her spine when the man slid his hands up her sides under her singlet. Her hips began to move once more of their own accord, sliding back and forth along the man's pitched tent. "Oh Natsu~."

Natsu wrapped his arms around the woman, holding her just under her breasts. "Be still, I don't want to make a mess in my pants."

"Then make a mess in me~."

"You're too horny for your own good. Are you sure you aren't an actual succubus?"

"You make me feel like one." Lucy slowly turned on the man's lap and rested her side against his chest, tucking her head under his chin as she watched the show. "You know I'm going to send tonnes of photos, right?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda expecting you to blow up my phone the second I'm out the driveway tonight."

"Hehe, don't tempt me." Lucy kissed the man on the cheek and settled in to watch the show. But when it was almost over, something began vibrating right underneath her and caused her to gasp and shiver as rock music rose up from the man's lap. "N-Natsu, I think someone is calling you."

Natsu reached into his left pocket and took the offending object out from under the woman's nether regions. After a quick glance at the caller's ID, he accepted the call and brought the phone to his ear. "What's up, Ashlyn?"

"You got anything on right now?" The Agency's head mechanic asked quickly.

"Just watching a little bit of TV with Lucy before I go for a drive. Why?"

"There's a little event going on at the old industrial park in Maple. If you want to come out for some fun then meet me at the Moltex Servo just off the Primrose Highway as you come into the district."

"What's the buy-in?" Natsu asked quickly as he gently moved Lucy from his lap and headed down to his basement.

"I've seen some high-rollers go by and had a chat to Ghost. She said that they've got a fifty thou show going, and that's the buy-in, not the prize."

"Fifty a head?" Natsu whistled and crossed the concrete walled room to the large safe built into the wall. "Fuck, that's some serious cash. What's the split?"

"Podium style; fifty, thirty, twenty. Still a big pay-out if you come first. Say if ten people are running, that's two-fifty for first."

"Winner gets half of the entire pot. There are probably a lot of rich kids there, and probably a few sponsored guys after a quick buck. Could be a neat pay-out if we manage a one-two finish." Once Natsu was in the safe, he grabbed a briefcase and began to fill it with stacks of bills. "Do you think Lexie has a chance of winning?"

"Probably, depends on how good I can drive her. I'm filling her up with a tank of ethanol right now, and she's got fresh tanks of nitrous too. Depending on how well it goes, I should be in for a solid second, behind you."

"The cops aren't going to like this."

"Eh, like they'd be able to keep up." Ashlyn laughed loudly. "Anyway, if we win, I'm thinking of completely redoing your baby. Custom built V10 engine block and heads with an oversquare bore design, dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, a constantly variable valve timing system, all to have crazy RPM for a large capacity engine. Then we go for twin big turbo setup that feeds into a supercharger, slap on a race-spec sequential box on the back. And we can probably switch out a bunch of the steel parts for lightweight composites from R&D."

"Enough, Ash. I can only get so hard." Natsu chuckled and locked up the briefcase after he had placed fifty grand into it.

"I bet blondie would disagree with that."

"Well, she does know how to keep it up." The man conceded with a grin and he sealed up the safe before heading back upstairs. "Anyway, I've got the cash and am about to head out. I'm basically out of fuel so I'll throw a jerry of ethanol in it and fill up at the station you're at."

"Alright, get over here quickly. There're some pretty spicy cars heading past, so I think we might be in for a hell of a payday if we win."

"I'll be there soon." Natsu hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He grabbed his keys and wallet before sticking his head into the loungeroom. "I'm heading out to a race, will be back later."

"Okay, good luck!" Lucy smiled and waved him over. She gave him a quick kiss in hopes it would boost his luck and pushed him back with a giggle. "If I'm asleep when you get back then just wake me however you see fit." Before the man could turn away, she took out her golden keys and held them in her hands. "Who wants to watch some movies with me?"

Natsu saw the keys flash with golden light before the spirits appeared before him, dotted around the living room. He recognised Taurus, Virgo, Cancer, Aquarius, and Sagittarius, but there were a few more that came along that he only knew by the symbols they bore; Aries, who was sat beside Virgo, Scorpio, who had Aquarius snuggled up against his side, and the Gemini twins who were sat on the coffee table. "Huh, I wasn't expecting more than just the ones you had keys for…"

"Leo said he'll be here soon, Princess." Virgo said, offering the blonde a small bow. "He just has something to do for Lady Heartfilia before her comes around."

"I hope it's ok for me to be here…" Murmured Aries, timidly. She glanced up at the maid next to her then looked to the busty blonde.

"All of you are welcome to drop by whenever you want to as long as I'm not on a mission." Lucy smiled brightly. "Just, make sure you aren't going to get into trouble with your summoners. I don't want repercussions to fall back on any of you who aren't under my or my mother's care." The beautiful woman glanced at all the familiar faces but faltered slightly when something felt off. "Where is Capri, Pisces, and Libra?"

"A human used some kind of spell to take over his body." Aquarius muttered bitterly. "A former employee of your house, we don't know where they are but Capricorn hasn't been able to come back through his gate ever since it happened."

"Pisces and Libra are busy with my holder's sister." Aries quickly followed on, clearing up the last two missing spirits. "They were planning on coming over once they've cleared it with her. Of course, due to Pisces' size, they will be using their human forms, like Aqua." The ram spirit pointed to the couch opposite her where the bikini clad mermaid sat with a pair of legs instead of a tail.

""Hmm, so many human-looking spirits."" Gemi and Mimi glanced at each other then the spirits sat around them either on the floor like Taurus or on the couches like the rest. "Of course, Tau-Tau stands out—" Gemi said, followed perfectly by Mimi. "—and Sagi-Sagi looks as weird as normal…" They both looked at each other and were enveloped by a brilliant golden light which quickly faded to reveal a pair of twin blue-haired girls in black and blue robes. ""Piri-piri, how do we look, Princess?""

"Aw~ you two are so cute!" Lucy launched forward and brought the twins into a warm hug.

Natsu smiled softly at the woman's obvious love for the celestial spirits. He quietly slipped from the room and entered the garage, tossing the briefcase of cash into the passenger seat of his car and grabbing a nearby can of fuel. Soon, the vicious growls coming from the heavily modified car filled the night as Natsu raced through the streets. It seemed to be responding perfectly to his inputs, this was good, he shouldn't have any issues. Street lights flashed past his windows as he flew up the onramp and sped along the ring road.

The screen in the centre of his dash lit up as his phone rang in his pocket, showing Mira's name, and once he accepted the call, the woman's gentle and beautiful voice came out of his speakers. "Hey hot stuff."

"Hey, Mira, what's up?"

"Just wanted to let you know that I've talked to my sister. As expected, she was very jealous." Mira sighed softly and the sound of a leather chair squeaking under the woman came through the call. "Lucy's not with you?"

"She's having a movie night with the celestial spirits."

"Alright. I'm going to need to talk to her about Lisanna. I didn't realise just how clingy she would be. Since, you know, I'm the more physical of the two of us when it comes to you. I was almost always on your lap with or without your cock inside me. I wonder if she was envious of that too…"

"You sound… upset. Upset and a little injured." Natsu noted softly as he spared a glance at the screen on his dash. "Did something happen?"

"Lisanna and I had a fight. Started off as a shouting match but she slapped me pretty hard and locked herself in her room. I'm ok, by the way, but it's already bruising. I'll send you a picture after the call."

"I imagine being bitch-slapped by a woman whose strength has been chemically enhanced would leave a decent mark." Natsu sighed and sat back in his seat. "Alright. If you think it needs to be sorted out between you three, then just swing by my house. That's where you'll find Lucy."

"I think I'll head over right away. Lisanna doesn't seem to be coming out of her room anytime soon."

"Okay. When you get there, just park on the left side of the driveway so I can bring my car up into the right side of the garage. I'll be home later tonight."

"See you soon, Natsu."

"See ya, Mira." Natsu tapped on the screen and ended the call. He pulled off the ring road at the offramp for the Maple District. He quickly spotted the midnight purple Lexus LFA with a large rear spoiler and a wide body kit at the Moltex, parked in front of the building. As he pulled into the station and coasted over to the pumps, a raven-haired woman in black cargo pants and a purple tube top stepped out through the automatic doors and made her way to him. She leaned on the car's rear quarter panel when he came to a stop and shut off the car.

"I think we're in for a tough race." Ashlyn remarked as the man moved past her and opened the filler cap at the back of the car. "Lambos, Ferrari, Maserati, etcetera. Looked like a bunch or rich kids, like I thought. Came through here and filled up on premium, and of course, hit on me while I was waiting for you by my car."

"Most rich kids won't know how to race, probably using Daddy's car too." Natsu glanced at the tanned woman who was sucking on a slushy through a straw as he grabbed the ethanol nozzle from the bowser. "Easy money there, what I'm more cautious of would be the racers with cars like ours; properly built and tuned for racing."

"Those with sponsorships? Hm, true. They could be more of an issue, but they would drive pretty cleanly compared to the brats. Those kids were running their mouths, by the way. Bragging and whatnot."

"So, in other words; expect cops to show up." The man glanced at the climbing numbers on the bowser's digital readout then turned to the mechanic. "Wanna reach under the seat and shut off the transmitter? Best not to have them scan the car and get the details."

"Heh, thank you license plate-less country." Ashlyn chuckled softly and opened the car's door; she reached under the driver's seat and found the carefully hidden toggle switch and she flicked it off and closed the door. "I turned mine off before I left home. You can bet that those kids are gonna get done later if they do get away since I doubt that they'd have a kill switch installed on the transmitters in their cars."

Natsu handed the fuel nozzle to the woman and closed up the filler cap, making sure to lock it so no one tried to siphon fuel from the car. By the time he had gone inside and paid for the fuel then returned to his car, Ashlyn was already in her own and parked near the exit; waiting for him. He slowed down as he came up behind the woman's car, letting her take the lead.

It was just a short drive to the industrial estate from the service station. It had been abandoned for some time and many of the buildings were vandalised with graffiti that ranged from harmless street art to obscene depictions of anatomy, and many of the structures had objects thrown through their windows. But this night, the normally dead estate was alive with loud music and roaring engines thanks to Magnolia's underground street racing scene.

As Natsu and Ashlyn rounded a corner onto the district's thoroughfare, the man flicked a switch on his dash which opened the valves in his exhaust system and gave the gasses and noise a straight path through the pipes. He flicked another switch and his headlights turned red as a red glow emanated from under the car. Similar lights switched on inside his car, bathing the interior in a soft red light. Ahead of him, Ashlyn activated her car's purple lighting as a group of cars flew past them on the other side of the six-lane road, separated only by a metre-wide island that had streetlights mounted into the concrete at regular intervals.

The crowd of people parted as the two cars slowly moved through the makeshift and illegal festival of speed. A murmur spread through the crowd, carrying words of recognition for the modernised and modified Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda. Soon there was enough of a gap in the crowd for the two cars to move side-by-side, opening the path to a collection of flashy supercars and modified performance cars sat in a circle near the flatbed truck parked in a nearby lot that served as a stage. With the addition of the two cars, the total number of racers in the circle came to thirty, too much to safely race in a single go, even on the wide industrial streets in this district. It may be an illegal street race, but no one wanted to go home in a tow truck with a wrecked car on the back.

Natsu grabbed the briefcase full of money and got out of his car. He glanced around at the other racers as he walked to the flatbed truck, his attention switching to it as he approached the stairs. He felt Ashlyn fall in behind him, her eagerness clear as crystal to his senses. As they stepped out onto the truck bed, they were met by a white-haired woman who was dressed in an open white jacket with a white tube top underneath, her perfect alabaster skin visible between the garments. She had white track pants and runners, and her face was covered by an ornamental kitsune mask but her white opal-like eyes were visible through the mask's eyeholes. "Hello, Ghost. I heard there was a big race tonight."

"Hm, I was wondering if you were going to turn up tonight." Ghost giggled, her voice soft and gentle. She came out from behind the large table that she had looming over, watching dots race around a map of the impromptu street circuit. She waved over two of the event staff who took the money from the two racers over to a counting machine. "Since we've got thirty people here for the race. I'm going to separate them into three sets of ten and take the top three from each for the final race. I'm sure both of you are fine with that?"

"Hell yeah, count me in!" Ashlyn cheered loudly.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah. That's fine with me."

"Alright. Once we've made sure you both have met the buy-in, I'll give you the chips. Standard practice, just stick them on your dashes and we'll handle the rest." Ghost dismissed the two racers with a small wave as she turned and took her place behind the map table again, spectating the ongoing race.

"Should we check in with the other racers?" Ashlyn asked the man as she headed back down the stairs. She glanced back over her shoulder and turned as her foot hit the asphalt, beginning to walk backwards to their cars. "Not really interested in the kids, but I see some familiar faces among the professionals."

"You can go on ahead, I'm just going to chill for a bit and get a feel for things." Natsu spared the other racers a quick look before making a beeline back to his car.

"Okay."

The pinkette sat against the nose of his muscle car and lit up a cigarette while attuning his senses to his surrounds. Excitement was thick in the air; he could tell that it picked up the moment people spotted the Black Mamba rolling down the street. But there was also anxiety and panic, frustration, carried by the occasional glance directed his way. Some of the other racers were probably pissed off at his arrival, having hoped to make a quick buck only to have those dreams dashed upon seeing the infamous blacked out and low-slung muscle car.

"You should take your Grampa's car and go home!" A brash young man heckled from somewhere off to Natsu's left, causing the man to look over. It was some guy in his early twenties, decked out in designer clothes. The redhead pointed to his Lamborghini Gallardo, and Natsu instantly recognised it as a second gen model. "This baby will thrash that rust-box all day, any day."

Natsu sighed softly and rose to his feet. He tapped his cigarette to get rid of the ash and held it between his lips, slipping his hands into his pockets as he walked over to the young man. "Pop the back, I want to look at the engine." The kid eagerly opened the driver's door, happy to show off the car. But as Natsu walked along the side of the car, he wasn't impressed. It was a base model with no signs of modification. It was even just a normal H-pattern manual so it didn't have the advantage of the computer controlled automated manual transmission.

"Bet you've never seen anything like this, old man!" The kid opened the hatch to the engine bay, a boastful grin plastered on his face. "Well?"

"Clearly, this is your dad's car. Does he know you've gone for a joyride in his Lambo?" Natsu lifted his gaze from the completely bone stock engine of the LP 560-4 to meet the irritated gaze of the redhead. He tossed his cigarette aside and motioned for the kid and his friends to follow him. "I would suggest that you all back out, but you've already bought your ticket, now you've gotta enjoy the ride while it lasts." Natsu released his hood pins then the bonnet latch before opening it up to reveal the monster's heart. "You're out of your league, kid. All of you. Try not to crash and burn."

"Be nice to the rookies, Salamander." Ghost called out as she came down the stairs. "They've got to learn somehow, and if they stick around after the thrashing they're about to get, then we might be able to make something out of them."

Natsu sighed and closed up the front of his car. He sat down on the nose once more and looked up at the fresh-faced racers. "Look, if you're really serious about this then get yourself a cheap tuner car and work your way up from the bottom. We have a class structure here based on power to weight and you all have jumped into the deep end."

"Both your's and Frankie's payments have been processed and have met the buy-in." Ghost informed the pinkette. She came to a stop in front of him and handed him a blue and white poker chip. "You know the drill."

"'Stick it on the dash and let it do its thing', yeah, I know."

"I'll put up the groupings in a second but you're in the second race." The pure-white woman tumbled a second chip down the backs of her fingers of her right hand and headed for the group of racers that Ashlyn was standing among. Her long snow-white hair waved behind her as she glanced back at the pinkette. "Good luck, Salamander."

Natsu returned his attention to the fresh-faced racers. "It's clear that some of you are trust-fund brats, but take my advice; get yourself something like an MX-5, a Civic, something small and nimble, and find out where the limits are and what your limits are. From there, you learn to drive to those limits and not past them. You will crash. That's just how things go. So yeah, get something cheap and get used to racing. None of you are ready for the big leagues, and you'll see why very soon."

"Aw, quit bullying the kids."

"I take it that you two are off duty and not undercover?" Natsu glanced over his shoulder at the pair of women approaching him. "I'm not really surprised that you're here, Alexia, Allie, you did say you had an interest in cars." He shooed the young racers away and walked around to the left side of his car, meeting the blonde and redhead halfway.

"Allie's the one who's really into cars, I just like fast things." Alexia corrected the man with a grin. "Like your H2R. And yeah, we're off duty. Ghost recently started paying us to keep an eye on things on our end of the law in return for doing this stuff in places that won't harm civilians."

"I'm surprised that you two decided to take bribes, thought you'd be pretty straight and narrow."

"Well…" Allie rubbed her arm softly and rested her rear against the car's door. "After witnessing what happened at our station, between you and the other officers… We've started taking a good hard look at how things are."

"We decided there are other ways of tackling problems than beating it down with a baton." Alexia flicked her wrist a few times, emulating the swinging of said baton. "And I mean, if we get some cash from it then it can go to bettering our own lives. Maybe I'll be able to get a H2 SX thanks to it, and maybe I could hit you up for a ride?"

"Heh, I'll make sure there is no shootout on the highway this time." Natsu chuckled quietly. He slipped his hands into his pocket and opened his mouth to continue but flashes of light in the corner of his eye caught his attention. "Hm, she's put up the race groupings."

"Group two, huh?" Allie murmured as she read the listing. All three holographic panels had the name of the driver along with their car or their handle and the name of their vehicle if it was available. "I recognise all the ones in two and three, is one the rookie division?"

"Probably better to have them all race together instead of getting in our way. Anyway, you two should probably get to know their faces, just in case they do dumb shit out in traffic." Natsu glanced at the kids who were getting into their exotic sports cars.

"Hm, dumb things in traffic sounds familiar…" Alexia said in a playfully mused as she rubbed her chin softly. She eyed the man with a sly grin but didn't continue as the music filling the district began to quieten and multiple holographic windows opened, displaying a woman in a fox mask.

"The next race is about to start; this is part one of four of tonight's event. There will be three qualifying races to see who will participate in the grand finale race for the one point five mil prize. Can Group One head to the starting line and line up in the order designated by your chips."

"Alley-oop!" Ashlyn cheered as she vaulted over the wide front end of the Black Mamba and landed on her feet behind Natsu. "Damn, I leave you alone for a few moments and you're already chatting up some chicks, do you ever give it a rest?"

"I can't chat up chicks when I sleep, unless you count dreams." Natsu grinned at the woman and turned side-on to the two groups, sitting back against his car door.

"Who's this?" Alexia asked curiously as she eyed the raven-haired woman.

"She's Ashlyn, also known as Frankenstein, or just Frankie."

"Wait, like Frankenstein's Monster?" Allie's head snapped to the woman then to the car she was leaning against. "She made this car?"

Ashlyn glanced up at the pinkette who just gave her a quick wave to tell her it's fine. "Yes." She replied quietly, her energetic demeanour vanishing for a moment as she leaned in past the man's chest to the two women. "How did you two know that?"

"These two are cops, Ash. Probably the only two that I trust." Natsu's voice hardened as he looked down at the woman with a serious look in his eyes. "They found me out, and the old man decided it's fine. Probably so we have people inside their department."

"Hm." The tanned woman slipped her hands into her pockets and took a step forward, straightening her back to look the two off duty officers square in the faces. "Ashlyn Everette. I work with Natsu as their Head Mechanic. My team and I built all the cars they use, including the Black Mamba here."

"I'm Allie Jordan, and this is Alexia Rose." The redhead placed a hand over her chest then pointed to her fellow officer. "I'm a fan of your handiwork. Oh, and don't worry, we aren't here in an official capacity. And neither are you, I'm guessing?" Allie looked up at the pinkette.

"No, this is just me having some fun between jobs. No need for us to be so formal with each other." Natsu waved the woman off and grinned to the tanned mechanic. "You're in Group Three, huh?"

"Yep!" Ashlyn regained her previous pep and slipped her hands behind her head, baring her teeth in a wide grin. "We won't get to race each other until the final race. Though, I don't exactly stand a chance against one of my own creations. Especially with you behind the wheel."

"Just focus on getting a podium in your group."

"I can say the same for you, your group seems to have most of the top racers who entered into the race."

"Yeah, yeah. I can't allow myself to get complacent and make mistakes." Natsu walked around to the right side of his car and opened the door. He leaned in and slotted the little blue poker chip into a holder that sat on top of his digital instrument cluster. "Alright, that's all set for the races."

"Hey Natsu." Allie turned and rested her arms atop of the low muscle car. "Would you be slowed down too much by having two passengers?"

"Not really, no." The pinkette replied as he swung down into the driver's seat and reached across the cabin, quickly opening the door and pushing it gently against the woman. "Just don't take up the seat beside me, you'll obstruct my vision."

"Come on, Alex!" Allie cheered, throwing a grin at her friend and co-worker. She shifted the passenger seat forward and slid into the back seat. "Oh, you've got harnesses back here too?"

"Makes it easier keeping people secure in transit." Natsu replied quickly. Once the second officer was in the back of his car, her reached over and set the passenger seat back into position.

Ashlyn sat down on the driver door sill and a laptop flashed into existence in her hands which she plugged into the car. "Just going to do a quick check before I let you go. Start her up for me." Once the car rumbled to life, she quickly checked over the readouts and closed her laptop. "She's healthy, you shouldn't have any issues with the car."

"Good to know." Natsu glanced up at the holographic boards as the race one results appeared. He fastened his five-point harness as the raven-haired woman returned to the car parked to his right. When he closed the door, the chip on his dash emitted a soft blue light which scanned the cabin then projected a holographic display on the windshield and centralised within line with his immediate line of sight. He slipped on a pair of leather gloves and shifted into reverse as the fox-masked woman was displayed on his windshield.

"The second qualifying race is about to begin. Could the next group of racers make their way to the start and line up in the order designated by your chips."

Natsu glanced at his position on the starting line displayed in front of him then up into the mirror, checking to see if the two officers had fastened their harnesses yet; they were just tightening down the straps to hold them in place. "We're moving, make sure you don't shift about too much back there." Without any further notice, he let out the clutch and accelerated backwards. He threw the car into a J-turn and shifted gears mid-slide before powering out and heading to the nearby traffic lights. In the two-column line-up, his position was fifth, so there were two cars directly ahead of him that he needed pass to get a clear line, and if he didn't get a good start that number would rise to four or five.

"Good luck, Spy-man."

"Do your best to hold onto your dinner." Natsu replied softly. He took a deep breath and slowly released it as he flexed his fingers on the steering wheel and gear knob. A five-second countdown appeared in the chip's projection. On two; the pinkette preloaded the accelerator to bring up the RPMs and ready the car. On one; Natsu's perception of the world slowed as his mind went into overdrive and the very moment the zero appeared in front of him, he dropped the clutch and stamped on the accelerator while cranking the wheel to the left. The car squatted down and complied with the man's inputs, pulling out and around the car ahead of them.

The Black Mamba's engine roared and its turbos fluttered with each gear change. It surged past the four cars in front of it and quickly took the lead, racing down the opening straight with the other cars chomping at its rear bumper.

Fire shot from the twin exhaust exits at the back of the 'Cuda as the revs picked up, the man quickly downshifting through the gears at the first turn. He was coming into it quicker than the others, but it was his aggressive driving style that was the cause. Natsu threw the car into the intersection and allowed the rear tyres to slide out a little before he jumped on the power and brought them back in line.

One of the other racers managed to pull up beside him and was starting to take the lead, their cherry-red modern GT500 Mustang roaring beside the modernised Hemi 'Cuda thanks to the tighter racing line the driver had taken through the corner.

"Holy Crap!" Alexia cheered gleefully as she finally managed to pry herself out from the seat. She was shocked at how much the car kept her pinned to the seat. A glance to her partner showed her in the same predicament, and loving it just as much as she was. "I think you've converted me, Allie!"

"Told you, racing is fun!" Allie laughed with closed eyes; her white teeth bared in a wide grin. "Savour it, we can't get caught behind the wheel at these events as we'll lose our badges."

"We'll have to settle for gunning for that promotion into the Pursuit Interceptor Division." The sandy-blonde looked at her redhead friend with a matching grin. "Maybe then we'll be able to catch this menace!"

"Not in a million years." Natsu shot over his shoulder. "And once my baby gets her heart transplant, not in a million more."

"Cocky, aren't you?" Allie giggled and braced herself for the next turn. "Though, a man such as yourself has every right to be cocky, given your training and line of work."

"Speaking of; I hope you haven't had any trouble at the precinct since my last visit for work." Natsu glanced up at the mirror as he took the sweeping bend right on the apex and shot out the other side like a bat out of hell.

"No, seems to be business as usual. Allie and I got over the shock pretty quickly too."

The casual conversation was kept to the back of the pinkette's mind and he focused on the race. Due to better positioning from the other races, he had dropped down to third place behind the GT500 Mustang and a gunmetal grey R35 GTR. It seemed that out of the ten racers on in the heat, the three of them were a good second in front of the pack but with all the modifications done to his already heavy Hemi 'Cuda and the with weight of fuel and passengers, the normally 1.8 metric tonne car was over two tonnes and was significantly heavier than the two cars next to it. Why he had more power than the other two cars, they had better a power to weight ratio.

The distance-to-finish counter ticked down on the projection, turn after turn the finish line drew nearer. Five-hundred metres, four-hundred, the final turn onto the initial straight. With three hundred metres left and a straight line to the finish line, Natsu flicked a switch on is dash and pressed a button on his steering wheel. Twin jets of mist vented from the front of the car, he purged the lines of his nitrous oxide kit.

Without a word of warning, he pressed another button and the Black Mamba roared like and enraged monster, its tyres releasing a hellish scream as they struggled for traction. The heavy muscle car flew forward, pinning the occupants to their seats as the driver raced through the gears and pulled away from the pack. Two-hundred, one-hundred, fifty metres, the crowd was a wall of blurred colours stood at the sides of the illegal street track. Two engines roared just off the man's doors, the Mustang and the GTR were trying to make a pass but the finish line was moving faster. A pair of flares sat on the edges of the intersection, marking the termination of the race. The two cars drew closer to the black muscle car, the Mustang in line with the front left wheel while the GTR in line with the right-side wing mirror as they crossed the finish line.

Natsu let out the breath he had been holding and shut down his nitrous system. He coasted down through the gears and cruised back over to the truck where the winners of the previous heat and the participants of the following one sat parked and waiting. "That was closer than I'd like. Seems like people are getting better, and their cars too."

Ashlyn stood by the empty spot next to her car, grinning widely at the man as he parked the car. But her expression faltered upon seeing his narrowed eyes. Once all three were out of the car, she approached the pinkette with a concerned look. "Something's not right?"

"The car worked flawlessly, Ash." Natsu replied as he sat against the front-right fender. "But she's too heavy. I've got the power, but if there was some way we could lighten the car, I will be able to push her further."

"Hm." The raven-haired mechanic ran her right hand down her jaw and ran her eyes along the length of the muscle car. In her contemplation, they were joined by the two officers but they quietly talked among themselves, ecstatic about the race. "She'll only get heavier if we make a custom engine for her… We could use exotic materials, but the cost will balloon out if we replace all the driveline. We can replace the panels with carbon fibre and Kevlar composites, that would bring down the weight a fair bit."

"I can go without the car for a bit to give you time to work on her. I'll just need another car from the inventory for work."

"Well, if we both take a podium position – preferably the top two – then we could afford to invest into going balls deep into her and drive her up the wall." Ashlyn sighed and placed her hand on her chest as she sat back against her own car. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to have a newer car? I know you're very fond of my monster."

"Maybe I should find something newer that I like... Something already lightweight that we can lighten further."

Ashlyn gazed along the car once more before raising her maroon eyes to the pinkette, a playful grin spreading across her lips. "Alright, I think we go for something smaller, but the engine won't be able to be as large as you're used to. But we can fix that by throwing everything and the kitchen sink into it."

"What've you got planned?" Natsu glanced up at the boards as the new listings were posted, they had to make their conversation quick so Ashlyn could get to her race.

"Well, since I'm already planning on machining a brand-new engine from a billet and doing a full driveline too, why not go all in and replace as much as possible lightweight composites instead of steel and aluminium? You just need to learn how your new dance partner moves, what she likes, and what really gets her hot and bothered."

"Frankenstein's Monster 2.0?"

"We'll work out a name for her later on down the line." Ashlyn chuckled softly and crossed to the other side of her car. "For now; let's focus on winning."

As the woman headed to the starting line, Natsu turned to the two officers and slipped his hands into his pockets. "What are you two going to do now?"

"I think we're going to go and check out some of the cars on show." Allie replied with a yawn. "You know, the ones who only came to show off and not race for one reason or another."

"Good luck in the grand finale." Alexia flashed the man a playful smile. The blonde and her redhead friend took their leave, giving the man a glance and a wave over their shoulders.

Natsu watched the two women walk away, his eyes lured down by the sway of their hips. He sighed and tore his eyes away from them. "Get it together, Natsu. You have a girlfriend…" He murmured as he slipped a slipped a cigarette in between his lips and lit it with a flame from his fingertip. "Though, I guess I've always had loose morals." Footsteps approached him and drew his attention to the young man from earlier, the one who had been so boastful about his car. "I see you're still hanging around?"

"I came third. But I guess that doesn't mean much after seeing your race, and the current one." The man looked up at the magical projection that displayed the ongoing race. "I guess I should face reality; that I have no chance even coming in the top half of the final race. And that I should apologise for my words earlier."

"It's fine." Natsu waved off the redhead and let out a puff of smoke as he turned his head to appraise the man. "As I said; find a tuner car and get someone to mentor you. I guess proper introductions are in order, now that you've popped your cherry." The pinkette pushed off from his car and turned, extending his hand and offering a handshake. "Natsu Dragneel, also known as Salamander. A name that gets passed around many social circles."

"Raphael Star." The young man took the offered hand and his eyes widened at the unusually powerful heat contained within. "Do you have any suggestions for a new car?"

"Something with All-Wheel Drive. Displacement doesn't matter all that much, as you saw in my race." Natsu patted the bonnet of the Black Mamba softly. "She's a nine litre V-ten. An SRT-10 taken from a viper, hence Black Mamba. But she's heavy due to the modifications." The man glanced up at the projection and saw Lexie vying for third place with fourth place. "Lexie – my friend's car – is incredibly light as she replaced everything she could with composites. That's not to say that she hasn't done work to the engine and transmission, but it certainly helps her." He lowered his gaze back to the redhead. "So, yeah. Get yourself something light and nimble, with all-wheel drive, turbocharged and somewhere between two and three litres. It's a good starting point for a new racer. Then focus on getting the weight down as much as you're comfortable with using carbon fibre or fibre glass panels; a bonnet and front quarter panels. An aftermarket exhaust and rims too, they tend to be much lighter than factory ones. And don't skimp on your tyres, they are the difference between taking the corner and being wrapped around a pole."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Make sure you do, because the more people who die racing, the more likely it is that cops crack down on us." Natsu stepped away from his car and headed for the makeshift stage, but he glanced back after a few steps with a small grin. "You should check your car. Make sure the oil is fine, that you haven't got any leaks. Wouldn't want to ruin your dad's car, after all." The pinkette chuckled at the small aggravated twitch the eye from the kid and hurried up the stairs. He tossed himself down onto one of the camping chairs sat around the table and kicked up his feet onto it while he watched the dots race around the district.

"You always make yourself comfortable whenever you decided to turn up to one of these." Ghost chuckled softly as her fox mask turned slightly towards the man who let out a puff of smoke and gave her a grin. "Still, doesn't hurt to lighten up the mood. You seem a little upset."

"Eh, more surprised at the calibre of the racers and their cars. Here I was tossing my baby about and those two were giving me a run for my money." Natsu glanced down at the pair of racers who drove the Mustang and GTR, a white-haired man and brunette woman respectively. "They aren't from Magnolia, right?"

"He is from the scene over in Crocus. She is from the one in Hargeon. I reached out nationwide for this event and it took a bit of planning to get it to work, without any outside interference."

"I'm going to have to step-up my game then if I want to win this. And probably get some more work done on the car or work on a new one altogether for the future."

"And your employer is fine with that?" Ghost leaned back in her chair and lifted her mask slightly off her face, revealing an impossibly beautiful woman underneath as she looked out the corner of her white-opal eyes at the man. "Well, I guess they haven't stopped you from participating in illegal races now, have they?"

"If it keeps me sharp, then they don't care. As long as I don't crash and injure myself, that is."

"Hm." Ghost gave the man a small smile and covered her face once more. "Seems like the race is nearly over. They're two turns off. Your friend is in second place."

"Currently. I hope she can hold onto it, or can take first."

"I think she wants to save her tanks for the final race. I'm surprised you used yours."

"It was only some, but I had to. Like I said, those two were right up my arse." Natsu took the burnt down cigarette from his mouth and crushed it within his fist then incinerate it and let the embers take flight with a sigh. "Seems you found some rather tough competitors for this event, Ghost."

"It took a bit of poking about, and talking with my race marshals across the nation, but indeed I have. And it has been quite the spectacle, I might add." The pure-white woman looked up from her table as the pack of racers came racing down the six-lane road. Her eyes followed the group of five cars as they roared past the finish line and she turned her head to the pinkette. "Congratulations, your friend only just managed to scrape third place by Lexie's front splitter."

"So I saw." Natsu shook his head lightly as the cars made their way back to the parking lot that they were set up in. He saw Ghost create the new race listings on a small holographic screen just in front of her right hand then send out the list of nine racers that will be in the final race. Another screen appeared in front of her as she began to address the eventgoers.

"Could the racers listed on the final line-up come up to my stage so I can talk to you about the race. To those who did not make the cut, thank you for your time and effort, I hope you enjoy the rest of the night. You may stay and watch, or you may return home and prepare for your next race." Ghost closed the window and slowly rose to her feet as all eight other racers made their way to the makeshift stage. She tapped on the table and a new track was highlighted on the map. "With this much money on the line, I can't guarantee the police won't get involved. I can't rule out them interfering at some point in the race, however, I can prevent them from getting their hands on any monetary evidence. So, if all of you are serious at winning a bite of the prize pool then race like you've never raced before, give those cops a run for their money and then scatter like ashes to the wind. I'll find you afterwards and give you your rewards." The woman reached up and removed her mask, placing it down on the table and baring her face to the group as she looked each member dead in the eyes. "You have my word, on my life. Keep those chips with you, should you need any help during the chase then I can send people over once you've either ditched the race and are trying to escape the police, or you have committed to seeing it to the end and need help after crossing the line."

Natsu rose to his feet and looked down at the map at the revised track. He slipped another cigarette between his lips but before he lit it, he paused and looked down at it at the bottom of his vision. 'The stress must be getting to me…' He sighed quietly and put the unlit cigarette back into its case and placed his hands down onto the table. "Where heading out of the district, are you nuts?"

"It's a precaution we need to take due to the amount of money on the line." Ghost replied, sparing him a quick glance before shifting back to the other racers. "Point to point. You'll be blasting down the highways and dodging in and out of traffic. If you don't feel safe doing this, then back out now." She turned her attention to the three rookie drivers, Raphael standing among them. "What we're about to do is extremely dangerous. Know that once you get cops on you, then you'll have burned those vehicles you've come in when they scan them and you haven't disabled the transmitters like the professionals have."

"I-" Raphael raised his hands in surrender. "I think I'll back out. Losing fifty thou isn't much when compared to the risk of losing the car or my life, or having to deal with the police. Rick, Maybell?" He glanced at his two friends who had managed to reach the podium spots with him.

"I'm out." The black-haired young man replied in a deep voice and he raised his mahogany brown hand. "As Raph said, it's not worth it in my eyes."

"Same here." Said a floaty voiced young blonde, her light green eyes dancing around the group of hardened racers. "Maybe when I'm at the level you're all at then I would do it, but not right now."

"Alright." Ghost gave the trio and understanding nod and a gentle smiled adorned her beautiful face. "Best you three head out now then. I hope you've enjoyed your taste at the big leagues, and if you want another bite later on then I can set you three up with some mentors who'll help with your cars and improve your driving."

"Remember what I've told you." Natsu sat against the edge of the table and he followed the trio with his eyes as they walked along the flatbed. "And be sure to share it with your friends, all those who wanna dip their toes into racing."

"I will."

"Let me make the amendments to the line-up then I'll get on with the route you'll be taking." Ghost opened up the small window again and removed the three racers at the bottom of the listing. "The first few turns are here in Maple, then you'll be heading southbound on the Primrose Highway, through Cedar with the end being in Waterfront by the boardwalk. The guide markers will be projected by your chips, as per standard, so you'll know where the finish line is. Once you hit that line, scramble, get out of the area and to safety, wherever that may be."

"Cops will be all over us once we hit the highways." The deep voiced white-haired man chimed in, placing his calloused hands down on the table. "There would be safety cameras all along it and the operators would notify them the second they spot us."

"That shouldn't be an issue at this time of the night." Natsu shook his head lightly. "The roads are fairly clear of traffic in these parts. With the exception of trucks, that is. So, as long as we keep the speed up and make use of all the road, the cops should have a hard time keeping up until they dispatch interceptors."

"That said, they'll probably do that right away with this many cars travelling at high speeds." Ghost finished off with a glance at the man. She clapped her hands together and looked around the group. "Well, best to get on with introductions. Next to me is Salamander – or Sal for short – who is the driver of the Hemi 'Cuda 'Black Mamba'." The pure-white woman waved her hand to the pinkette before pointing to the raven-haired woman standing with her arms crossed next to him. "Frankenstein – or Frankie – who drives the LFA 'Lexie'." Next was the short brunette. "Crystal with her GTR 'Lycan'. Next to her is Rocky with his Mustang 'Chopper'." She moved onto the last two racers in the group. "Kazumi in her RX7 'Spitfire'. And finally, Firebrand – or Randy for short – in his V12 Vantage 'Hisui'."

"Dedicated to the Queen, huh?" Kazumi giggled before turning her amber eyes onto Natsu and Ashlyn. "I've seen you two around town. The others must be from other cities?"

"Crocus." Rocky put his hand up. "And so is Randy. I convinced him to come down here for this."

"I came here from Hargeon." Crystal replied. She gave the black-haired woman a carefree smile and turned to the impossibly beautiful woman who had set up the race. "I think we should all be in a call during this race, so we're all on the same page and can warn each other about hazards."

"I agree. My chips can take care of that." Ghost tapped on a new magical projection and reconfigured the chips she had given the racers. "Head to your cars and line up at the start line, over at the intersection. We'll start in a few minutes."

Instead of walking to the stairs, Natsu leapt from the bed of the truck and walked over to his car, quickly followed by Ashlyn. He glanced back at the woman and waved her closer. "I have the reflexes to stay right on your tail and not hit it but my car is heavier. You have the lighter car so you can stop quicker, but you can't react as quick as I can. Which do you prefer?"

"I think we should just roll with it and whoever is in front, that person takes the role of punching through the air. It doesn't matter if either of us gets first or second, just as long as we take both positions."

"Then let me deal with any cops." Natsu leaned back against his driver door and looked down at the raven-haired woman. "If they start getting aggressive, then I'll reinforce the car and play rough. It'll piss them off, but it means they'll most likely keep off us for a bit. At least until they bring out the heavy units." He subtly glanced at the other racers, sizing them up with the eyes of an Agent. "The two Crocus guys are going to ditch; the Vantage first, then the Mustang not long after. Kazumi will stick it through, she likes the thrill of the chase. I don't know about the Hargeon girl with her GTR, it definitely has the power and agility to outrun the cops, but I can sense hesitation, she doesn't believe herself capable."

"So, it's a race between three or four in the end." Ashlyn murmured and followed his eyes around the group. "Let's get going, and win this."

"Yeah." Natsu's face hardened and his eyes darkened into the visage of Agent Salamander. He had a job to do; protect a member of his family, no matter how distant she stood. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"I know, I know." Ashlyn chuckled softly while running her hands through her raven hair and looking up at the man with her maroon eyes. "It's an honour, as always. Time to get serious, Hotshot."

Natsu pulled open his door and dropped down into the driver's seat. His black leather gloves squeaked against the steering wheel as he lightly twisted it in his grip. He fired the car back up and drove to the start line, taking the lead position as instructed by the chip. A new element was added to the projection; the list containing the racers names that acted as an activity meter in their call. "This is Sal, calling for a radio check."

"Frankie's here."

"Kazumi."

"Rocky here. Bit formal, aren't you?"

"Firebrand is ready."

"I'm Crystal Clear."

Natsu ignored the woman's pun and purged his nitrous lines. "When the cops get on us, do as you want. If they get too clingy then I'm going to take the heat onto myself. I'm fairly well known by them, so they'll have a hard-on for me anyway. This will give those of you who may ditch the race the time you need to get away to safety."

"You're willing to sacrifice your baby for that, damn, you've got some balls." Rocky called out loudly.

"Don't worry, she's tougher than she looks. And I've got a few tricks up my sleeves." Natsu looked up into his mirror at the Mustang parked behind him, his own demonic red eyes glowing in the corner of the reflective glass. A countdown appeared in front of him and the collective noise of all six racers doing their pre-race ritual filled the call, whether it was saying a quick prayer or hyping themselves up with a quick mantra.

Once the timer ticked down to zero, all six cars shot forth like bullets loosed from a firing line. All six fell into their position in a column, dictated by their starting number, and swerved back and forth across all three lanes to warm their tyres back up. There was no flamboyant driving through the first four corners as they circled around the block and headed for the Highway, the six cars just stuck close in a uniform formation.

"I'd like to reiterate;" Ghost's voice slipped into the racers' call. "At any point during the race you feel uncomfortable, then you're free to ditch and I'll help you escape. Like those kids said, losing fifty thousand is better than losing the car or your life, or dealing with cops."

"I'm sticking to the end." Kazumi declared. As she had come first in the third heat, she had started in second place and slotted her teal RX7 in between the black Hemi 'Cuda and red Mustang.

"Same here." Ashlyn added. "I grew up on these streets so I know ways to lose the cops around here."

Natsu led the way up the onramp onto the Primrose Highway. His eyes drifted to the mirror and he saw the green V12 Vantage shoot past the ramp and disappear under the bridge. "Looks like we've lost one."

"Yeah, I'm out. Too risky for me." Randy said and his car popped up on the northbound section, heading the opposite direction to the racers. "Good luck."

The man's name disappeared from the list off to the left of Natsu's line of sight and a small grumble came through it, lighting up Rocky's name. "Rocky, if you want to follow your friend. Then head out on the next ramp and go after him."

"Yeah… I might do that." Rocky murmured and his car pulled out from the line of cars and slowed down. "Salamander, if you're ever up in Crocus for some fun then hit us up. We'll show you the sights."

"Will do. It's been fun. Safe travels." Natsu chuckled softly and the name vanished from the list when the man dived down the next ramp.

"Two for two." Ashlyn whistled as the racing pack condensed. "First set of cameras are coming up then we've got the tunnel. Probably a good thing they got out early."

"After these cameras, the cops will be aware of us." The pinkette warned with a glance at the cars in his mirrors. "Kazumi said she's in for the long haul, what about you, Crystal?"

"No risk, no reward." The bubbly woman replied. "I've heard rumours of your car in Hargeon, Salamander. I reckon the cops will be gunning for you, so the rest of us should be relatively safe."

"Fair point, I do tend to piss them off." Natsu put his foot down as they came up on the first set of road cameras.

They weaved through traffic, slinging around trucks and shooting along the shoulders when all lanes were occupied. Their speed varied anywhere between 100 km/h all the way up to 280 km/h, blitzing in between and around civilian vehicles and jostling for position. As they shot out the other side of the tunnel, they were met with a regular police patrol car which tried to keep up with them but quickly peeled off.

"Looks like we've been noticed." Kazumi called out as she pulled out from the line and let the black muscle car past. "How long do you think it'll take for them to bring out the big guns?"

"Well, I know they've gotten a bunch of C7 Corvettes recently to use as high-speed interceptors. So maybe a few minutes, depends on if we can confuse them when we get off the highway." Natsu replied quickly as he took up the lead position.

"You know. On second thought; I think I may split…" Crystal murmured, sounding uncertain about the situation she was about to find herself in.

"Alright. Take the next exit and double back through the Diamantina district. Skip the first ramp you find and take the second, then just gun it out of the city. You should have a fairly clear path since their eyes will be on us."

"Thank you, Sal."

"And then there were three." Kazumi murmured as the woman disappeared from the call. "Well, looks like we've taken the podium."

"Yeah." Ashlyn chuckled softly. "Only thing left is to see how we split the money."

A new engine roared as a black and white C7 Corvette raced up the onramp the racers had just passed by and quickly gained on the trio.

"Hm, that was quicker than I expected. Ah well, our turn is coming up anyway, so we'll have to put up with them." Natsu dived off the highway and descended down a ramp into Cedar.

Due to the high speeds they were travelling at through the built-up areas, the interceptor began to hang back. But the three racers pushed harder, following the chevrons projected in their vision and taking one turn after the next, vying for position. Now they were off the almost barren elevated roadway and into the city proper, they were met with light traffic and were diving into and out of oncoming traffic, flying through traffic lights.

"Do either of you have a police radio in your cars?"

"Hotshot does. You should bring it online."

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu tapped on his touchscreen display and brought up the requested application, tuning into the Magnolian Police Force's radio bands and flicking through each one until he found the one which was in use for their race.

"-confirm sighting of the black Hemi 'Cuda known as 'Black Mamba'."

"It's him, Commissioner Davies. The same one from Hargeon, the same one that keeps getting wiped from our files."

"Focus that one, ignore the other two. Take him down."

"Damn, whose wife did you fuck to warrant that?" Kazumi laughed; the radio had been picked up by the chips and both women heard the call out. "Looks like you'll be the target after all."

"We've set up a roadblock along their current heading."

"Shit, we've got a straight shot here. We're going to drive right into it!" Ashlyn called out.

"Fall in behind me. Do not deviate from my tail." Natsu let out a soft breath and accelerated. The Black Mamba gave an enraged roar as a shimmer ran down its surface from nose to tail.

"Shit! They're accelerating!"

"Are they insane! They're going to crash into the roadblock!"

A line of black and white SUVs had formed into a line ahead of the racers and the officers who stood with their pistols drawn by the vehicles quickly scrambled out of the way moments before the all-black muscle car slammed into the rear quarter panel of one of the empty SUVs and sent it spinning along the asphalt and into a street light. The undamaged Black Mamba roared past the wreck, followed by Lexie and Spitfire with the Corvette coming in hot behind them.

"What the fuck is that thing, a tank?!"

"Where are my reinforcements? I need more interceptors!"

"Status report! Any Injured?"

"Negative, the vehicle was empty and we all made it to safety before it drove right through us."

"Talk about a damn trick, how'd you fit that up your sleeves?" Kazumi shouted, shocked at what she had just witnessed.

"Eh, magic." Natsu chuckled. It was actually his Enhancement curse but he wasn't about to tell a civilian his secrets. "Suffice to say; after that little stunt, I think I'm public enemy number one in their eyes. You two should be able to slip away." A pair of loud chopping noises echoed above the man, so he leaned closer to the window and looked up into the night sky. "We've got two choppers above us, one's a cop and the other looks to be the news."

"Chances are that they'll stick on you, but you should be able to outrun them on the highways."

"That's my plan, Ash. I might have to stash the car at work for a bit until the heat dies off."

"Alright. Meet me in the workshop sometime tomorrow and I'll sort out a replacement. Since it's short notice, you'll get what you get. Even if it's something different than what you're used to."

The racers continued to shoot through the Cedar district and out the other side into the Waterfront district where the roads were even more active. Thankfully, the police were inadvertently helping them by setting up ahead of their route to restrict traffic, even if that included rolling roadblocks.

"We're ready with a spike strip on the eastern side of the road. Try and funnel them towards us."

"Do you have anything for that, Salamander?"

"If you hit them just right, you can whip them out of the way and save your tyres. But this street is too narrow to avoid it. So, let's duck one block over, I'm sure Ghost will understand." Natsu hit the brakes and turned right at the intersection before the spike strip and bypassed it by heading one intersection further before they re-joined the planned track.

The racers vied for position as they came around a sweeping bend onto the large main road of the Waterfront district. Now that they were on the final straight, they were no longer playing follow-the-leader and were swerving in and out of traffic to get the jump on the other two racers and try and take the first position. Three jets of mist vented from the cars as they purged their nitrous oxide systems. The Hemi 'Cuda bellowed while the LFA screamed and the RX7 shrieked, all three engines surging from the induction of nitrous and artificially increasing the power they produced.

The Black Mamba spun its tyres, searching desperately for traction under the immense torque coming through the driveline while the lighter Lexie and Spitfire took off like rockets. After the brief moment of hesitation, the rubber found purchase on the road and the tremendously powerful car took off after them. The deafening roar coming from the three cars set off car alarms and shook windows as they flew past the city's nightlife.

Natsu swung out into oncoming traffic and glanced into his mirrors, grinning wildly as the three of them began to pull away from the five Corvettes that were trying to chase them. As they had a straight shot to the line, he could put down all the power he had available to him and he rapidly closed the gap the other two cars had created. One hundred metres quickly became fifty and then twenty and Natsu managed to get his nose just in front of the RX7 who was in second place. But the car sagged slightly, his tanks had run empty. The pinkette glanced out his window and saw Kazumi losing power too, unable to match the acceleration, she must have run out of nitrous as well.

Ashlyn crossed the line, the nose of her car in line with Natsu's but due to her front splitter mounted under her bumper, she just beat the man out by a handful of centimetres. "Fuck Yeah! First place!"

"Damn, if only I had a little more left in my tanks, I would've beaten you two." Kazumi sighed and gave a light-hearted chuckle. "Congrats, Frankie. You two Salamander."

"You did pretty damn good yourself, Kazumi." Natsu replied. "You two should ditch off this road, head into the city and try and lose them. I'm going to draw them back over to the Highway and try and outrun them."

"Don't have to tell me twice, good luck!" Kazumi cheered and immediately dived down one of the smaller roads.

"They're splitting up, should we follow them?"

"Stick on that black one!"

"I'll see you at work, Ash."

"Yep! See you tomorrow!"

The call ended, leaving Natsu alone with only the blaring sirens right behind him to keep him company. He shut off the police radio and continued down a few more intersections before throwing the car into a slide at a set of lights. Natsu tapped on his dash display and called Lucy, not really concerned about the police on his tail.

"Are you having fun, Natsu?" Lucy giggled as she picked up the call. "You've been all over the news."

"I might have kicked the hornet's nest." Natsu laughed and took a few more tight corners. "How's Mira?"

"You haven't seen the pictures yet?"

"Sorry, I've been busy with the races."

Lucy sighed sadly and the sound of her repositioning herself on the lounge suite came through the call. "She's got some bad swelling and bruising on the left side of her face, thankfully nothing is too damaged that she'd need to go to the hospital, and she's still got all of her teeth. I'm guessing Lisanna just slapped her harder than she planned on doing due to her emotions. Right now, I've got her with a cold pack on her face to soothe it, some painkillers too since she seemed to be touchy."

"Alright, I'll be home soon. Just gotta ditch the cops."

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you, but I'll see you soon."

Natsu quickly reached the highway and he flew up the ramp. Now that his path was clear, he opened up the throttle all the way and rocketed up the highway. The pinkette glanced into the mirror and saw the Corvette interceptors having a tough time catching him. Above them, the two helicopters were also beginning to lag behind. Natsu kept accelerating, and when he had enough room to manoeuvre, he began to use the various offramps and onramps to confuse the police. He switched his lights back to normal and went a step further, shutting them off. Due to the road cameras, he made sure to shoot past the ramps for Ebony Hills and he continued to the edge of the city where he left the highway and weaved his way back through the smaller roads until he entered his suburb by which time he had completely lost the police. As he pulled into his street and came up to his house, he noticed a black van parked out the front with a alabaster-skinned white-haired woman stood by the driver's door.

"You put on quite the show." Ghost smiled at the man as he walked over to her once his car was secured inside his garage. "Definitely diverted the attention away from us enough for everyone to get to safety."

"Not my first-time outrunning cops. Though, I was expecting those new interceptors of theirs to put up a better fight."

"Your mechanic contacted me about a car, by the way, as she usually does for specialised vehicles to do with your work. I've organised for an NA1 NSX to be sent over, Ashlyn and I have already sorted out the payment which was taken from her winnings."

"That's a fair bit different to what I'm used to…" Natsu muttered with a glance back at his garage but he shook his head. "Ah well, I guess we can always count on you for sourcing tough to find vehicles."

"This one is mechanically stock and is in pretty good condition, I've had my own people look over it." Ghost opened up the back of her van and lined up nine briefcases for the man. "It does have a Hycade widebody kit though, and is painted in a dark blue, almost black metallic paint, so it'll be just as unique as the Black Mamba. She'll have it in her workshop come the morning. Anyway, here's your winnings; four-fifty thousand in cash."

"Well, we'll see how I take to it. If I like it, then we'll use that as the basis for the replacement for my current car." Natsu checked the cases and counted the money quickly. Once he was satisfied, he collected up the briefcases and started heading to his front door. "See you around, Ghost."

"Thanks for spicing up the night, Natsu. Have a good night." The beautiful woman called out as she closed up her van and got into the driver's seat.

Natsu entered his house as the van puttered away. He saw Lucy and Mira sat together on one of the couches and he stopped on his way past and took a closer look at the black and blue model. "Damn, she did knock you around a bit…"

"It didn't go as well as I thought it would. Is it alright if I stay the night?" Mira took the icepack away from her face and gave the man a cute puppy-eyed pout but her right eye twitched uncontrollably. "I swear I'll be a good girl."

Lucy brought the icepack back up to the woman's face and gave her a gentle smile, answering in Natsu's place. "Of course! It could be like a mini sleepover!"

"I'll be back in a tick; I need to put this cash away."

"How much did you win?" Mira called out curiously as the man headed to the basement.

"Four hundred and fifty thou; from a fifty thou buy-in. I came second, Ash was first." Once Natsu secured the money, he came back up to the lounge room and knelt down in front of the white-haired beauty and moved the pack away to get a better look at her face. "Hm, its not that bad. I mean, an agent smacked around another agent, it's going to be bad but it could've been worse. I hope you don't have any shoots or shows coming up?"

"No, thankfully. I should have enough time to recover from this." Mira shook her head lightly and looked down sadly. "Lis was surprisingly angry… I guess she's clingier than I realised, and her trauma exacerbated it. She didn't seem like that though…"

"Maybe she just keeps it all inside?" Lucy suggested softly as she carefully pulled the older woman into a hug. "We'll work it out later, just focus on recovering."

"Thank you, Lucy."

Well, that's it for this chapter. It took me a bit to write this from start to finish because I kept finding myself stuck in a rut. But I managed to finish it even though I don't think it's overly great. My main issue is the racing/chase. I found that it's a bit difficult to put into words. I've never really raced on the streets beyond dicking around at traffic lights, and I've definitely never been in a cop chase outside of Need for Speed games or GTA. So I've got nothing to draw inspiration from or anything concrete to research like I could with things like weapons or the gas attack in Hargeon.

Anyway, regardless of how I feel of the chapter, I hope you have liked it. Don't forget to do the usual stuff if you haven't already, and I'll see you in the next chapter.