Midnight. Somewhere northeast in the city.
It was called Warehouse 14. From something old to something new, Stage 2 of Ultimate Street was taking place in a large newly-built warehouse somewhere near the heart of the city, a structure big enough to hold a whole jumbo jet with room to spare. Its owner, a freight company based in Nevada, invested over ten million dollars in its construction and will go into operations in about a month. Inside the warehouse was supposed to be completely empty.
However, for now, the owner was gonna get back some of that investment by renting it out a little earlier than scheduled. The surrounding parking lot that was meant to accommodate up to two hundred trailer trucks was filled instead with the equally colorful array of tuner cars of all kinds. Along with the tuner cars was the ever present party atmosphere with loud music and even louder engines.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Stage 2 of Ultimate Street," said Jarod's voice as he went about his duties as announcer and commentator of the event.
Again, his voice was transmitted over the live webcast of the event accessible to all participant teams and pay-per-view subscribers, and a couple of signal pirates here and there. The live video featured a ground view of all the tuner cars gathered at the lots and Jarod and D-rail went on with the pre-race brief.
"We are back," continued Jarod, "and we're bringing much more excitement with us tonight in a whole new game! Care to, as you say, break it down for us, D?"
"Damn straight, Jar!" replied DJ D-rail in his usual enthusiastic manner. "Like the man said: whole new game. Last stage we needed a heavy foot and a big motor. This time, driver's are gonna need a pretty tough steering wheel. The name of today's game is handling, ma' homies. We're bringin' it to you street x style, tonight! Let's go to our boy on the ground, Dex, for a close up view, y'all."
The live video feed now switched to a shot from the ground as a guy, presumably Dex, wearing a helmet with a camera stuck on top of it was getting into a go cart. It was plane to see that the cart was just behind a painted line on the ground and that he was right beside the warehouse's outer wall. Dex started the engine and revved it a bit like it was some kind of muscle car in obvious humor. The crowd seemed to like it. He gave a thumbs up to the camera shooting him. A second later, the video changed to a view of the camera on Dex's head.
"Right, now here is how the course will go," started Jarod. "Racers will start midway of the southern wall outside the warehouse itself. At the flag they first head down east."
As if on cue, Dex on his go cart started moving eastward and zoomed speedily enough down the clear asphalt ahead. Soon enough he reach the southeastern corner of the building and turned in. The camera shot focused on the obviously ajar doors of the warehouse, open just enough to let tow cars enter side by side.
"After driving around the souteastern corner, racers will enter the warehouse through the doors and that's where the fun begins."
Dex drove in and revealed the inside of thw vast warehouse had been, predictably, converted into a street X course. The whole course composed of a tight track that was walled off using lines of shipping containers. These large steel boxes were lined up end to end of each other with a large orange plastic road barrier in between a few of them. Onlookers to the video thought that there must be at least ten dozen of these containers comprising the whole course.
Jarod's voice continued as Dex drove on. "Right after the entering the warehouse, the cars will take left turn for a short 60 yard dash to a right turn to the first straightaway, the longest one in the course."
Dex turned and the camera showed a long straight bordered by trucks on the right and the warehouse wall to the left. While charging down the straight, Dex tilted the camera upwards to show that the upper walkways of the warehouse built onto the side of the walls was occupied with audience members cheering over the railings. Somewhere nearer to the ceiling, Dex's camera shot the giant overhead crane, built right onto the ceiling that was used to move all of these containers. Dex's camera turned back down to floor level and the eastern wall of the warehouse was coming in fast.
"After the straight we follow a right hairpin corner goin' right into the chicane," said Jarod.
After the hairpin, Dex and his go cart traveled about twenty yards into a wide area where the floor's would-be straight path was interrupted with four shipping containers line perpendicular to the walls creating a zig-zag path. Coming out of the hairpin Dex's cart went left to avoid the container, then right to avoid the next one, the left, then right again. Finally, Dex went out of the chicane through the hairpin which lead to a short straight all the way to the other wall of the warehouse.
"After the chicane, It's the second long straight just before the exit," said Jarod. "However, this isn't just any old straight. Up ahead we got a surprise for our racers. It's called the bottleneck ladies and gentlemen."
Dex's helmet-mounted camera made it all clear to everyone watching. Close to the end of the long straight, as long as the first one, there was a bunch of containers arranged to block the path with only a small opening in the middle. This opening, even from a distance, was obviously only big enough to fit just one car at a time.
It was clear to everyone this was the obstacle to beat. Whoever makes it through the gap first, finishes first.
After Dex exited the gap, he had reached the western wall of the warehouse. After the bottleneck it was a simple right then left out the door, mirroring the route when the car first enters the warehouse from the eastern wall. Once he exited, the view of the camera picked up dozens of onlookers marking the edge of the course and cheering him on.
Upon exiting, the cart turned south then turned east along the southern outer wall all the way to the start/finish line completing one lap. With a bit of showmanship Dex put his go cart into a powerslide and generated quite a bit of smoke as he crossed the line, much to the entertainment of the onlookers and viewers.
"And that about does it for one lap," said Jarod. "And just like last stage, each team member will take turns going through the course. First team to finish wins."
Somewhere on the parking lot.
"A street X race, huh?" said Alex to himself. "I knew it."
Street X (pronounced as "street cross") was a bit of a fad for inner city street racers who can rarely find a long enough stretch of tarmac that can serve the purpose of an old-fashioned drag race. Street X was characterized by a short, tight track that tested a car's steering and suspension to absolute limits, as well as a driver's willingness to take risks. In races this tight, drivers are forced to come dangerously close to each other and keeping close and tight was the name of the game.
And so, Alex prepared his car for just that.
He was seated inside his S15 with a barrowed laptop from the Escalade. The laptop was hooked into the engine management system and Alex was doing some checks on the last minute tuning they did a while ago.
Alex had tuned his car accordingly, like hardening the suspension and using lower tire pressure for more grip on the cold cement floor. For the engine, he focused more of the power into the lower revs and increasing the torque for better acceleration. The engine now ran at around 400 bhp, mainly because he tuned down his turbos, to the point of almost fully disabling them. Why? Because he knew that at a race like this, turbo lag is a major hindrance and he could do very well without it.
Turbo lag is the bane of most turbocharged engines. Turbochargers work by using the exhaust from the engine to drive a fan that compresses the air that is forced into the engine resulting in a richer, more concentrated fuel-air mixture resulting in a bigger boom inside the cylinders giving more power to the engine. This extra power is commonly known as turbo boost. However, turbochargers don't work instantly and need a short amount of time to spin up fast enough to start compressing the air intake.
In this short amount of time, a turbocharger is essentially dead weight serving no purpose for the car. Only after the turbo has spooled up can it start producing boost and give the engine more power, usually indicated when the driver feels a sudden "kick" from. It is this period of time which is known in the automotive world as turbo lag. Depending on the size of the turbo, the lag can be longer or shorter. Generally, the larger the turbo the longer the lag.
"Are you sure about turning the turbos almost off like this," asked Mel, the S15's assigned mechanic as she was messing with something under the hood.
"Yeah. In a race this tight, large turbos like mine would be less effective. I'm gonna go with the raw torque the motor makes." Alex knew that his VQ35HR was renowned for its low-end response and power.
"I thought turbo-lag wouldn't have been an issue when you said that this was twin-turbo. I guess I was presuming a sequential configuration."
"Well, I wanted something flexible so I opted for this kind of configuration."
Alex knew what she was talking about. Most people think that "twin turbo" is basically slapping two equal sized turbos in an engine with the logic that two is better than one. And usually that was the case. Alex used this configuration in the S15's swapped VQ engine. This regular configuration, known as parallel twin-turbo, allowed for lots of power in the high revs but keeps the usual problem of turbo lag no different from a single turbo design.
The other configuration of twin turbo is the sequential twin-turbo configuration. Instead of having two equal sized turbochargers, the engine will have one small turbo for boosting the lower revs and a large turbo that kicks in at the higher revs. This design reduces turbo lag significantly since the smaller turbo spools up quickly giving almost instant boost while "pre-spooling" the larger one. The problem was this design was more mechanically complicated and rather expensive.
"Besides," continued Alex, "I've checked up on our competition for this stage. In terms of power, 400 bhp will be enough. But it looks like our next match-up is with guys that are pretty suited to the course. I think the S15 is in its best condition considering the course."
"What about the others?"
"Well. I have to admit I'm worried about Rome and his 'Cuda."
Mel grimaced. "In this track, who wouldn't be?"
"Though I have much fewer worries with Suki and Kate. The Subaru is a rally car. It can definitely take corners. And The S2000 is pretty nippy in corners."
"So I guess, we're okay for now."
"Sure." Not really. Alex knew better than that. He has seen the next team they're up against. A team composed of straight-up import tuners. Two FWD cars even. This is the kind of race FWD cars are best at when properly tuned. He sort of wished they could use Jimmy's Golf R32 for this race. Unfortunately, no substitutes allowed. They'll have to make do with what they've got.
Just then, Alex spotted Suki waking up to them, her pace unusually slow and careful as if she felt guilty about something. Alex tried to hold back a grin, knowing what that supposed guilt was about. When Suki came close enough, Mel noticed her as well. They exchanged looks that only women can understand and Mel was soon on her way to some random direction away from the couple, giving Alex a wink and a smirk.
"Uh, hi, Alex," opened Suki in a nerve-tinged tone.
"Hello to you to," he said nonchalantly. He was enjoying watching her fidgit like this.
"Listen...about this morning...um..."
"I already asked Rome," he said, stopping her. "So don't worry about it, babe. I'm not bitter."
Suki looked almost surprised but she knew that was probably what happened.
After their sudden and rather awkward meeting by the pool that morning, there was an amazing coincidence where all of them suddenly received a text message on their cellphones saying that they were being called away by their own teams. After another awkward exchange of farewells, each of them knowing that they'll probably see each other again in the near foreseeable future, the parted. Suki thanked whatever supreme being ended that meeting so promptly
The meeting was called by Tej and he wanted to discuss the next opponent: a team called Mad Stylze who he had just discovered to be a group of tuners. The meeting was short with Tej basically telling what the guys might expect from an all-tuner group. After the meeting there was another coincidence, only this time it was against Suki's liking. Rome had decided he wanted Alex's company for the next few hours. Rome was not used to Street X style racing and was asking for some coaching.
And so Suki spent the better part of the day worrying on how to tell her new boyfriend that she and Brian never had a relationship like that. And she spent all that time trying to push those concerns to the back of her head as she spent the day with Kate. However she didn't know that while Alex was coaching Rome on some braking techniques, he had asked Rome if he knew someone named Brian who used to race in Miami.
Well, after that Alex couldn't get Rome to shut up about the guy. He told him stories. Lots of stories. About a white boy from Barstow growing up with him, taking an interest to cars, getting arrested for driving underage, winning his first drag race by an inch, getting a badge, loosing that said badge, repeating those last two items again only in a more disastrous way...
By the end of it all, Alex was extremely fascinated now. Rome actually remembered why he started babbling about a certain someone and asked Alex why he wanted to know about him. Alex simply replied "I met the guy in Arizona a couple days back. And me and Suki met him again this morning. He's competing with his own team in Ultimate Street. Crazy huh?"
Rome promised he'd be back for the start of the race and disappeared for the remainder of the day.
Alex told Suki all of this at that moment and the girl looked incredulous. "You met him in Arizona?"
"When we had our little stop over there I met him while coming out of a local auto shop. We talked for about five minutes about cars...you know I should really get a new hobby."
"But that's all? You don't know each other from before? I thought you guys had some kind of connection."
"No, I never met him before Arizona...but as for the connection..."
He seemed to trail off. Alex suddenly looked very thoughtful about something and Suki saw it. A knowing grin materialized on Alex's face. He couldn't deny it. There was a connection there but it wasn't anything historical. That moment they saw each other they knew something. Alex knew that he was looking at an opponent worth taking on. And he was sure that that Brian character felt something similar. They both wanted to see what the other could offer them in a fair race and both had unreasonably high expectations
Alex turned to Suki. "Hey, you think I can beat him? Straight-up race?"
Suki's eyebrows jumped. That's the second time this day she was asked that question but this time it was from the other party involved. Suki continued to stare down at Alex's awaiting smile. Was he expecting her to say yes to that? Could she honestly say yes anyway? In the short time she knew him, Brian had no equal in Miami. The only one who could ever come close to him was Rome. He has already established himself as a legend on the sunny streets.
But what about Alex? His legend was just starting. After Brian left, the bar was set pretty high for any would-be street king to replace him. So far a bunch of really good racers have started fighting for the position of top dog. That included Suki. She wanted to raise her own game to an new level and for the most part succeeded in it. But then came Alex. Just like Brian, he came from out of nowhere with a past that was less than clear and a talent to wipe out anyone who stood up against him. It wasn't long before people noticed the new kid on the block.
funny. The more Suki thought about it the more she wanted to see it for herself: a race between Alex and Brian. Who would win?
Alex seemed to have read her mind. "You can't really tell me, huh?"
"It's kinda hard to compare the two of you. You guys are on a level that is even above me. I can't say for sure."
"Then that's fine. I like having something to look forward to."
"What's that mean?"
Alex's smile remained but the meaning behind it shifted. He looked excited, giddy even. "If he's that good...then it's only a matter of time before we have to face him in this tournament...we'll see if we can;t answer that question of ours then.
Somewhere nearby.
Many people consider Rome to be an intimidating guy. He simply had that kind of look. Always seeming to be looking for trouble, always ready for a fight anytime, anywhere. It was that look that usually attracted the ladies to him but at the same time it usually got him into trouble. That and his overly cocky nature. Though if he tried, he could be downright approachable. Those who have earned his respect he treated as he would have himself treated. His grandma never let him forget that golden rule.
But now he felt less than friendly. He was looking for someone among the crowd. And by his demeanor he really looked like he was looking for trouble. But the person her was searching for wasn't fooled.
Someone whistled at him from behind. "Yo, Rome!"
Rome stopped in his stride. The voice was unmistakable. He turned around a sure enough, Brian O'Conner stood no more that ten feet from him. Rome's face was neutral at best and so was Brian's. A few seconds of silence passed between the two men before Brian spoke up again.
"Or is it that only your homeboys call you "Rome?""said Brian.
"So, you still think you're my homeboy?"
"Well I ain't a pig anymore either, cus'."
Brian knew Rome's feelings towards cops. He knew Rome wasn't exactly thrilled when Brian decided to become federal agent (he wondered what Rome must feel now that he's once again wanted by the FBI for aiding and abetting a known fugutive).
"Yeah, about that. What's up with you, man? You serious about this cop thing or are you just playin'?"
"Let's just say I finally decided I was a bad guy trying to become a good guy...and generally sucking at it."
"Then why bother?"
"Oh, you know me. Always looking for a thrill."
Yes, Rome did knew him. He was always looking for a thrill. But deeper than that he was always looking for a purpose. Rome knew that for Brian life needed a direction. He wasn't those live-by-the-day type of guys. He was one of those rare prodigies that come by every once in a while. Ever since he was a kid Brian was always acting out, looking for something that made him feel alive, and often they were not wise decisions. Little wonder why he was always in trouble in his youth.
Rome suspected that Brian settled on becoming a cop because of the sense of power and authority it gave a man, as well as the almost singular directional purpose of the badge. To protect and serve. It was clear, concise, and didn't need a psychology professor to interpret it. But even then Rome knew that even though God knew Brian was a damn good cop he was never really comfortable with it either. Somewhere inside he was still searching for what he was supposed to be.
Rome wondered if he finally finished that little quest of his.
"How'd you get back into this country anyway? Last I heard you were in Japan, eating sushi and shit."
"I don't know about any shit, but yeah, the sushi is fantastic once you get used to it. Just stay away from the blowfish. And getting back into the US is easier than you'd think. Especially if you have all the right connections. It also helped that I happen to know a lot about how the law around here works."
Rome knew that that could mean any number of methods. He could've just forged some ID's, wore a disguise and strolled right though LAX for all he knew. "So why are you back...It can't be just for this tournament."
Brian slowly grinned. A grin Rome had seen before. "You could say that..."
"What the hell are you up to, brah'?"
"Like I told Suki, There's some unfinished business that a friend of mine needs to settle here...And I have a feeling you guys can give us some help with that."
On the opposite end of the lot.
Like most immigrants, Ryosuke Takeshi's family came to the USA from Japan to pursue the American dream.
And in a sense they achieved it. Using his grandfather's money which they received as an inheritance, Ryosuke's father used it as capital to start their own computer parts retail and repair store. Ryosuke was four then. And by the time he was six, his dad's computer store business had expanded into multiple branches across San Diego, allowing them to amass a small but substantial fortune in the bank. By the time he was nine, His mother had her own business of running a boutique which also quickly gained success. By the time he was twelve, Ryosuke found his calling in the world of the arts, particularly visual arts.
And in his pursuit in the visual arts, he chose a rather unusual canvas: cars.
Now at age twenty-five, Ryosuke worked as a mechanic at a small but successful custom car design shop which specialized mainly in paint, body kits, rims, graphics, and other accessories. They did have tune up services and sold performance parts but for Ryosuke, it was always about the looks. He was not only a mechanic and graphics artist he was also the owner's apprentice and assistant manager.
Many people wouldn't think of a car as a canvas for art. But Ryosuke saw right past the mundane functionality of the automobile. Everything in a car can be customized. Everything. Even down to the tiniest bolt. A car can take on any shape, any color, any name, and still retain that same functionality. Just look at the over-saturated auto industry! There is so much variety out there and so much more to come that you'd think the car was a living thing, evolving, adapting, changing with the times like the complex DNA-based life forms that inhabit the planet. Every car unique in its own special way, an extension of its owner's mind and soul. Cars can be cheap, or they can be expensive, big or small, fast or slow, subtle or completely outrageous. No other commercial commodity reflects their owner better than the type of car he or she drives.
What better canvas for art is there? You are what you drive.
Ryosuke nurtured this talent of his and made a fortune for himself out of it. His shop was one of the most successful in California. His clientele is something that even Ferrari would envy. But while he enjoyed bringing out the essence of his customers out onto their rides, he enjoyed it even more so when he expressed himself from his own ride.
He gave his ride sitting on the parking lot a once-over. The '99 model Mazda RX-7 was currently being mobbed by the nearby crowd. It's most obvious modification was the Veilside Fortune model wide bodykit which completely transformed the outside of the car. The bodykit composed of a new front and rear bumpers, side skirt, front and rear fenders. hood, doors, headlights, back window, and spoiler and gave the car a Corvette-esque look. On top of that was the radical tribal design paint-job that covered the whole car.
That was his baby. And he was damn proud of it.
Through his shop he found other people with his passion for car design and performance. Riku Minami took a job as a fabricator a year after he was hired and they became fast friends. Aki Otohime was Riku's cousin who just recently moved to America to live with them. And Sato Minoru was someone they met on the local street racing scene as well as a regular customer at Ryosuke's shop. They all shared the same passion for car customization. It was soon apparent that once they became an official racing crew, the were a force to be reckoned with. In their local scene in San Diego, they were unbeatable.
"Yo, Ryo," called out Riku, sitting atop the hood of her Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, tapping away at a laptop. "Check out the team we're competing against."
"Are they any good?" asked Ryosuke as he approached them.
" As if we can say," said Sato, leaning against the hood of his own car, a Nissan 350Z, parked right next to Riku. "But at least we know they were good enough to win Voc Tech,"
"Anyone can drive in a straight line. This is Street X. This is our territory now. Can their ride even compete?"
Riku tapped away at her keyboard. "Let's see. Three tuner cars and one muscle. A Silvia. An S2000. An Impreza. And finally a classic Barracuda."
"Doesn't sound like much," said the last team member, Aki. Her Acura RSX was parked a little ways behind her. "Are they tuned for corners?"
"You know the network won't say that."
"I think it's their Imprezza that we'll need to fret about the most. That 'Cuda will probably be a push-over."
Ryosuke moved to look at Aki's screen. It displayed the page giving the opposing team's info but in a limited enough fashion. He didn't like this part about street racing. At least in professional racing leagues, driver's knew exactly what the other drivers are packing under the hood since performance restriction are extremely strict in pro racing. That way it was all down to skill. In street racing, and even pro street, drivers have no obligation to reveal the internals of the car they drive. You never know what your opponent maybe hiding under the hood.
"I think we'll have to watch out for that Silvia as well," said Ryosuke.
The other members of the team turned to him. "Why'd you say that?" asked Riku.
"I don't know...I just have a feeling about that guy."
"...You're not getting scared are you, aniki?"
Ryosuke looked up at her with grin. "It's not a crime to be cautious. As if it's gonna make a difference anyway. Like I said this is a street X race. this is our turf. The only area where nobody has ever come close to beating us. We came here to win and that's exactly what we're gonna do."
All his team members gave hive approving nods. Ryosuke knew that they were in the best condition so far. There was no way they were gonna lose. He was gonna show the world just how effective his art form is in the streets.
Author's note. Not much to say here…I'll just be moving along with the stage 2. Sorry for the lateness of this. I had to disappear during the weekend for some family-related stuff so I lost some time on writing. Anyway, pls. r&r as usual.