Twisted Fate
Chapter One, Part One: Getting There
One Week Later, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
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"Eva! Hurry up and pack! We're leaving soon!" Don Wei called to his procrastination-prone daughter.
"In a minute, Dad!" she yelled down the stairs. Eva wanted to make sure she had everything: Her CD player (well, she called it that but it was really more like an multimedia player since CDs were practically obsolete technology these days. It had all her favorite music, movies, and Internet articles, as well as racing info and articles with her mom in it), her favorite toolkit from the "Oban days", her camera, two week's worth of clothes, toothbrush and such, her drawing journal ('better pack two'), pencils, and her PDA that used Internet. She wore her old racing uniform and goggles.
Eva sped down the stairs and over to the door with her travel bag in tow.
"Only one this time, eh?" Don Wei chuckled. His daughter had a habit of trying to fit over half her belongings into her bags. He was surprised at how little she had brought this time around.
"Yup! When do we leave?" As Eva had a packing habit, Don Wei had trouble managing time. He was always late to everything, and Eva had to keep him in check so he wasn't late for anything important.
"In a minute. Can you put our things in the car?"
"Sure!" Eva was so excited, you could swear she was attracting static electricity. If it was something to pass the time, she'd do it. She ran to the car with her dad's bags and put them in the back seat, making sure there was enough room for her. Eva liked sitting in the back of the car because she didn't have to listen to Don Wei the whole trip. "Come on, Dad!"
"Alright, alright, Eva." Don Wei got in the car and started driving to Miguel's.
It was a two-and-a-half hour drive, so Eva kept herself occupied my IMing her friend Alex from school.
Hey, U there? She typed. A few minutes later:
Alex: Hey Eva. What's new?
Eva: Nothing much. Driving with Dad to long-time friend's house.
Alex: How far?
Eva: Dunno.
Alex: Who?
Eva: Stan and Koji. Mechanics from Oban races.
Alex: Cool.
Eva: How's life?
Alex: Boring, as usual.
Eva: LOL.
Alex: l l l
ll ll ll
Eva: What?
Alex: 666
Eva: Bad Alex! LOL.
Alex: KD LOL. Race car.
(A/N- KD is another IM "face" made of letters, like XD or X3)
Eva: Huh? ;
Alex: Backwards.
Eva: O. Cool!
Alex: Level, radar.
Eva: Sweet.
Alex: Madam, I'm Adam.
Eva: No you're not. LOL.
Alex: Say marmalade.
Eva: Huh?
Alex: Backwards.
Eva: Edalamram…LOLOL!! Funny.
Alex: Cool word. X3
Eva: Feh.
Alex: Hmm?
Eva: Dad giving lecture.
Alex: On what?
Eva: … How to behave friend's place.
Alex: Boring.
Eva: Tell me about it. :B
Alex: Any new music?
Eva: No.
Alex: d--b
Eva: Cool symbol.
Alex: Thanx.
Eva: GTG.
Alex: Why?
Eva: Gonna see if another friend's on.
Alex: OK- Who?
Eva: Bud Rick. Taught me to race in Arrow 2.
Alex: Sweet. See ya.
Eva: Bye.
Eva signed off, then searched the network for someone named "ExRacingPro". Rick told her that that was his own IM screen name, and she could contact him if she wanted. Finally, she found him.
Rick, U there? No answer for about five minutes. Then:
Rick: Who R U?
Eva: Eva Wei.
Rick: How do I know its U?
Eva: Jordan, Avatar. Stan, Koji, Whizzing Arrow. Molly. Ultimate prize. Oban.
Rick: Not convinced.
Eva: …Little Mouse.
Rick: Hey, Little Mouse! Haven't heard from U in a while.
Eva: Hi Rick. How is life on ur side of planet?
Rick: The usual.
Eva: Still coaching?
Rick: No, I quit coaching. Need pointers?
Eva: Nah. Just asking.
Rick: What's up?
Eva: Driving with Dad to see Stan and Koji.
Rick: LOL.
Eva: Why LOL?
Rick: Cuz I'm going there too.
Eva: Creepy. Just creepy.
Rick: Yup.
Eva: What job U have?
Rick: None. Retired.
Eva: Lucky! ? Im bored.
Rick: Me too. I have music. Want to trade?
Eva: Do you like punk?
Rick: My favorite music! LOL
Eva: Sweet. Trade.
Rick: OK. Yours in Email. I GTG to do that, tho.
Eva:
Is OK with me. I'll do the same. Bye!
Rick: Bye
Eva logged off again. Then, she emailed some of her favorite music to Rick. Soon, a new message popped up in her account.
Little Mouse,
Here's that music I promised. Click on the link to upload it.
Rick
She uploaded the music and listened. Eva was surprised; Rick had good taste in music for an old guy.
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Chapter One, Part Two: Being There
Same Day, 5:00 p.m.
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Eva and Don Wei arrived at Miguel's, where Stan and Koji were waiting outside to greet them.
"HIYA!" Eva ran in circles around her old mechanics.
"Whoa, stop Molly, you're making me dizzy!" Stan said.
Eva stopped. "You know my real name's Eva, right?"
"Yeah, but we're used to calling you Molly." Koji said with a laugh.
"Is Rick here yet?"
"Rick? I didn't know he was coming." said Stan.
"Well, I IM-ed him. Guess-"
Eva was cut off as a taxi pulled up to the curb. A figure in a familiar black coat with a bag stepped out and ran up the drive. "Sorry I'm late." Rick said. "The buses were off-schedule, so I had to call a cab. Did I miss anything?"
"Not much." said Eva, beaming.
"Well, I guess we're all here." Stan commented.
"Not really, we're actually short one Avatar." Said Rick.
"Ah, well, the rest of us are here. Come on, we have to show you your rooms." Koji said. Stan and Koji led the group across the road "This is our apartment."
"We usually have to go in for work early, so it's easier if we're closer to Miguel's." explained Stan. He unlocked the door and walked in. "We only have two guest rooms, so someone's going to sleep on the couch."
"I get dibs on the couch!" Eva called.
"O…kay… It's in that room." Koji pointed to a door on the right.
"Tanks!" Eva scurried into the room. It was surprisingly not that messy. 'Guess Stan and Koji did some cleaning for us.' The couch was near the middle of the room facing a large TV. 'Sweet!' There was a small coffee table in front of the couch, and bookcases lined two walls. A worn-out bean bag chair sat in front of the TV, and a large lamp stood in an unoccupied corner. The room itself wasn't very big, but it was cozy, and Eva took a liking to it immediately.
She set her bag down next to the coffee table and examined the TV for anything useful. Upon closer observation, she found a Nintendo Wii 25th edition,a Playstation Platinum and an Xbox 365. A CD rack sat next to the game consoles, full of games like The Elder Scrolls 15: Byruss's Underworld, Game of the Year Edition and Star Wars Universe. Also, Eva noticed that there were a few older games that had been remade with better graphics and sounds. Her favorite was The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It was a continuation of the original The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Eva loved the second game as it had so many elements of the old game but also some really awesome new ones.
(A/N-Check it out, the two Legend of Zelda games for the N64 are really cool)
There was no remote for the television, however, and Eva suspected it was hiding somewhere in the couch. She lifted the cushions off and piled them up on the floor, and, with a little fishing around under the pullout bed, found the universal remote for the television, Blu-ray DVD player and satellite. Eva placed it on the coffee table and left to join the others.
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"Guess what I found." Eva smirked.
"The remote?" Stan crossed his fingers and toes.
"Yup."
"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Eva laughed at the mechanics' stupidity. It was a widely known fact that all lost remote controls ended up somewhere in a couch. Even if the nearest couch happened to be fifty miles away.
"Soooo…Does this mean I can watch tv?"
Stan and Koji nervously exchanged glances.
"…And use the Wii, Xbox, and Platinum?"
"All right, all right, just only use empty files, got it? Don't mess with my RPG's." Stan said.
"We'll go unpack our stuff." Rick said. Him and Don Wei each went into their own rooms and spilled their bags' guts.
"We don't have the day off tomorrow, sorry." Stan admitted. "We could only get the weekdays off."
"That's okay. Maybe I can come with you guys!"
"No way. I doubt Miguel would let us go that far. But he did say you could use the Whizzing Arrow III when we don't have work."
"YES!"
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Chapter One Part Three: Staying There
During the Next Week
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The next week was uneventful at most. Eva either used Stan's and Koji's video games or explored the area when she wasn't hanging out with the mechanics and former Star-Racing coach. On Monday, Eva, Stan, and Koji toured the city on their rocket seats (Eva brought it with her, and Stan and Koji had their own). The mechanics pointed out some of the nearer hotspots, such as restaurants and pawn shops. Eva absolutely loved the pawn shops. They were full of interesting (and sometimes old) things, and she would spend hours exploring them.
The next day, Eva took the Arrow out for a spin. Luckily, Miguel's shop had a track to test prototype ships. Rick and Don Wei watched from a bench (I don't think a testing track would have bleachers), and Stan and Koji kept track of everything from the control room. First Eva tested the reactors, them slowly accelerated. It was smooth, and she got back in the hang of it. (Of course, Don Wei didn't approve, but he couldn't do anything about Eva's will to race) Afterwards, the group went to a local pizzeria for dinner. It was a tiring day, and everyone slept late (Eva being the latest sleeper).
On Wednesday, everyone just hung around the apartment doing nothing. Eva knew exactly what Jordan would have done: sleep, snore, waste oxygen, produce carbon dioxide, and generally just use up space.
The next day was generally just go and explore the city again. Don stayed at home and managed the Wei business; Eva checked her email and left. She hung around the official race track conveniently placed twenty-five blocks from the apartment. Eva met a few people, one whom became her friend. His name was Kevin, and he was sixteen. Kevin raced, like Eva, and eventually they came to a point where Eva challenged him to a race. Kevin accepted, and they planned it for the next day. Before Eva left, she exchanged email addresses and IM screen names. When she got back to the apartment, she told Stan and Koji about the next day's challenge, and they went to bed early that night to be best rested.
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This was a long one for someone like me. So, how do ya like it now? Please give me your opinion. It's going to be really tragic later on, so prepare yourselves and expect the unexpected. Or not.
Whatever you do,
Please leave a review.
Byeas,
-V D of O