END OF SILENCE

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1, yo.

A/N: Anyway… uh… I've decided to terminate some character's existence in the story. After reading through the previous chapters I had written, I can now see that incorporating every character I had originally planned to would make this both a headache to read and write. Sorry if this upsets anyone—I'm keeping the original AcceleRacer's cast and a few other important friends/gang members. This means that there could be a few loose ends never tied up and/or weird character placement/disappearances. Please let me know if anything really stands out to you and I'll try and fix it the best I can. It's been awhile. Thank you. =]

Chapter Three: Wasting Time

Three years earlier...

"I don't understand," 16-year-old Kara was saying. "I'm better than at least half the people here! You know it!" It was less than a month before the original World Race, and barely a year since Luke had died.

"Calm down, Kara," Peter Tezla said, trying to calm his niece. "You're still new at this, you should take it easy. Your father wouldn't approve of you doing this."

"Don't bring my dad into this," she spat back.

"I'm just saying, Kara—I'm not letting any of your brothers do it either. The prize is five million per driver, and I don't want to seem biased."

She scowled. "You wouldn't be biased, I know you! I don't... why can't I drive?"

Tezla sighed. "I'm not saying that you can't drive, because you can, just not here."

"Fine," Kara stood, snatching her keys off the coffee table. "You'll regret this, Uncle Peter."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Yes, and you could be the first drivers to enter, if you'd like."

"Right now?" Alex asked. "I mean, I don't know much about this stuff, but don't we need some way to get our cars in here?"

"We took a shortcut," Tezla pointed out. "There's a path straight out large enough to drive your cars through."

"What about me?" a voice asked from off to the side.

"Josh!" Kara spun around. She recognized her eldest brother's voice at the first syllable that came out of his mouth.

Joshua Tezla was the only blond brother out of the Tezla siblings, and obviously the oldest. He was built, mostly from being in the American armed forces for the few years between Luke's death and a few weeks prior to him standing there. He had stayed away from his uncle and siblings the majority of the time, only coming home for a few days out of the year. After the death of their brother, he swore never to get involved with the gang races that had killed Luke.

At this moment in time, Josh was approaching the four, wiping his hands with a dirty rag. Grease streaked across his right cheek like an extension to his crooked grin. "'Bout time you guys showed," he said. "I've only been here a week."

"Are you racing?" Alex inquired eagerly.

Josh laughed. "Only if you put a shirt on, bro,"

"No problem,"

"When can we get in?" Kara asked her uncle.

"Whenever a realm opens," Tezla replied, "just have your cars ready to go."

The three teenagers exchanged excited looks.

"I'm... going back up to the house," confessed Alex. "It's a little cold down here."

"I think I'll go with you. I'm not cold, but still," Mark said, motioning to himself. "Pajamas, even though they're comfortable, are not suitable for driving a car."

Kara gave him a funny look. "Whatever, Mark,"

Mark gave her a smile and shrugged.

The two boys headed back through the garage the same way they had come, leaving Kara back in the portal room with her brother and uncle. As soon they were out of earshot, Mark frowned at his friend.

"I'm calling our people," he said quietly. "I know I'm not the smartest brownie in the bunch, but Tezla and I have a mutual dislike for each other, and I'd say the feelings are especially strong on my side." Mark looked over at Alex. "No offense to you, of course. The rest of your family is awesome."

"S'okay," Alex said, "I totally agree. Uncle Pete can get out of line sometimes. I think I'd prefer having more racers here, just in case." He paused. "Don't tell Kara, though... she'd be a little P.O.'d at us for going behind her back, and I'm still recovering from losing that money."

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on it. Also," Mark added as they started up the stairs, "these realms aren't known for being safe, you know. I'm not 100% completely sold on going in there at his word."

Alex also agreed on this, but he was pretty sure he could handle himself in a car. The previous racers Tezla had started off with had all perished in their first runs, but none of them had done it together. He knew that this was also the basis for Mark's concern—he was the one who had hacked Tezla's computer. If they couldn't go together, none of them would go. Kara would be with him and Mark on those terms, no matter how bad she wanted to get into the realms.

"I'll get a hold of our people," Mark concluded, "if you can call the Teku. And, on the item of distrust... we're keeping the Atomic Winds out of this one. The Wheeler's are close enough to the Silencerz to make me nervous, and the only reason I'm letting Vert in is because him and Kara are together."

Scrunching his face up, Alex chuckled. "Don't remind me, dude."

"Sorry, but you got it covered?"

"Yeah,"

They opened the door, starting into the kitchen. Mark paused for a second at the counter. "Hey, Al? Do you know if your uncle has any donuts?"

"I'm not sure, but you're welcome to look," Alex sighed. "I have to go get a shirt."

Mark was already in the cupboards. He waved his hand in acknowledgement as his friend kept walking.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Several hours later, Kara was back up in the house, and Mark and Alex had taken over the garage. All that could be seen of Alex was his sneakered feet sticking out from under his golden Mustang GT. It used to be his sister's, but after he trashed his Acura in that canal, he inherited it with little bodily harm. A Subaru Impreza WRX actually fell into her hands shortly after his crash, so she was almost indifferent about giving the Mustang up. While Alex was busy tuning it up to his liking, Mark was working on the Subaru.

Using his laptop, the 19-year-old was making sure the car would be able to handle the 300 mph jump into the Realm portal. As far as he could tell, everything was in excellent condition. It was previously used by one of the Tezla's cousins in Miami, so all the things that usually had to be installed were already there and usable. From what his computer told him, the car was more than capable of obtaining the speed needed, but they wouldn't be sure until it was really tested.

"I'm going to test the speakers," Mark called.

There was a clink from Alex's direction before a muffled "okay" filtered out.

Mark pulled out a cord and hooked up the laptop to the dashboard. After a few key strokes, an intense drum beat filtered out, followed by blaring guitar. It seemed the speakers were in decent condition as well. The teen got out to admire the car.

The front end was black, with white-blue flames licking around the leading tire well and down the bottom. Paper-thin streaks of white cut up the midsection of the car, each one turning the space after it a lighter shade of blue. By the back bumper, the paint was a deep navy, with a black spoiler that sat low on the trunk. He let out a low whistle. Those Thornton's really knew how to pick them.

In his daze, Mark almost missed the sound of the portal buzzer going off. Diving back into the Subaru, he turned the music off. The annoying screech of the buzzer echoed through the garage, along with several loud expletives from Alex and Kara's shouting.

"Is she ready, Mark?" she was saying, taking the steps down two at a time.

"As far as I can tell," he shouted back. It was a mad scramble for him to get all his stuff out of the car before Kara got there.

Laptop—check.

Cord—check.

Headphones—check.

Cell phone—cell phone? Mark's free hand flew to his pocket when his frantic eyes didn't find the small, black device on the grey upholstery. Where was his phone?

"Dude, get in your own car," Kara's voice said.

"Uh," he managed before getting yanked out by the back off his hoodie. The word "Crap," escaped his lips as he watched her get in. The car shuddered as it was stared, then she threw him a small smile as the tires squealed and she peeled out toward the entrance.

Mark ran for his own car—a black Nissan Skyline—and threw his technology on the floor of the passenger's side. Alex's Mustang was already speeding after Kara, and he hadn't even started his car yet.

"Crap!" he shouted. His keys were in the kitchen! This was not his day.

"Need these?" someone asked. Josh Tezla was jogging at him, dangling the teen's keys between two fingers.

Mark nodded. "You're a lifesaver," he noted as the keys were tossed to him.

"I know," Josh replied with a grin.

"Drivers," Tezla's voice announced both through the speaker system in the garage and through the transmitter he had attached to the speakers in the cars. "It seems you are about to enter the Desert Realm. You have one hour... good luck."