Hey, I'm back with the second chapter of this racing AU! Enjoy :D
Also, thankyou for the name, suggested by a guest named Passerby, thanks man :)
The cars accelerated off the starting grid, and were fast approaching the first corner. Ruby managed to overtake Nora just before everyone started braking for the first corner. She managed to take the inside, and began accelerating away. Ren had sped ahead quite a bit, but with Yang hot on his tail. Pyrrha was neck and neck with Blake, because Pyrrha had the advantage of being on the inside. Ruby followed in fifth, and managed to get out of the corner faster than Nora, who had to move outside so she didn't hit Ruby.
Ruby felt the familiar feeling of being at high speeds, and soon into the first lap, there were already several overtaking battles going on. Ruby blocked an attempt from Nora, who had tried to cut in on the inside in turn six, but Ruby left the braking until a little later, and swept into the corner, forcing Nora to hold back. Ruby grinned as she accelerated away, putting at least two hundredths of a second between herself and Nora.
Several laps into the race, the order had more or less been established. Ruby was still fifth, but was closing in on Blake, who was in forth, and still battling with Pyrrha for third. Ren was out of sight. He had won the championship when he was sixteen, and then again when he was eighteen, and was very highly rated.
Ruby checked her wing mirrors, and felt some satisfaction as she had put in quite a big difference between her and Nora. She got a scare when she almost span out at a corner, but managed to get the car under control, although she did lose a bit of time.
For the next ten laps, Ruby was content with driving in fifth, but she wasn't racing at her best. She knew because for about half the turns in the track, she had either almost spun out, or braked too early.
Soon, she got a message saying she was to pit, and she acknowledged it. Her lap times were getting slower and slower because of the wear on her tyres. She soon entered the pit lane, and the pit crew managed to get prime tyres on her relatively fast. She managed to get out ahead of Nora, who had a faster pitstop, and hit the gas as soon as she was clear from the pitlane.
Ruby rejoined the track in eleventh place, although most of the cars in front of her hadn't pitted. Ruby found herself quickly catching up to Blake, and she tried overtaking a couple of times, but each time she was cut off by Blake. As they approached another turn, Ruby saw a slight gap that Blake had left. Ruby was tempted to get it, but she remembered what happened last time. Was it worth the risk? Ruby gritted her teeth. She would do it. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
She took a deep breath, and left her brakes until quite late, and braked hard at the last moment, just before Blake was going to turn. Ruby cut in on the inside and...
Blake had to swerve out of the way as Ruby turned on the inside, and sped ahead in front of Blake.
Ruby broke into a huge grin, and resisted the urge to cheer. But the race wasn't over yet. She turned the final corner, and sped down the straight, passing several cars which were in the pitlane.
She looked at her position indicator, showing that she was now in fourth place!
She saw Pyrrha joining the track again, after she had just pitted, and hit top speed, trying to see if she could perform another overtake. She was almost level with Pyrrha as they turned into the corner, and Ruby accelerated early, but she was at a clear disadvantage seeing as she was on the outside.
Then, Ruby Rose happened.
Pyrrha exited the turn slightly in front of Ruby, and Ruby allowed her to go ahead.
Pyrrha was surprised Ruby would give up that easily.
Ruby suddenly cut back across behind Pyrrha, and sped up on her inside. Pyrrha couldn't make the next corner without hitting Ruby, and Ruby braked late, leaving her ahead of Pyrrha. Pyrrha tried to cut back in on the inside by braking early, as Ruby had overshot the corner slightly. However, Ruby wasn't having that. She sharply turned, forcing Pyrrha to brake and turn further into the corner. Ruby had a triumphant grin as she sped away, leaving Pyrrha trailing in her wake.
Yang was quite far off, but Ruby wasn't bothered, as she was third, and in a podium position! But she was only a third through the race. She had to focus, or she would make a mistake, and that could cost her podium finish.
A determined look settled on Ruby's face (Although you couldn't see through the visor), and she finished another lap, her best so far that race. She still had a long way to go though.
Lap 36/51- Beacon Grand Prix- Race Day
1. Lie Ren
2. Yang Xiao Long
3. Ruby Rose
4. Pyrrha Nikos
5. Blake Belladonna
6. Nora Valkyrie
7. Jaune Arc
8. Neptune Vasilias
9. Russel Thrush
10. Sapphire Moon
11. Weiss Schnee
Incredibly, Weiss had managed to move up the field all the way to eleventh, a very impressive feat, considering she started in last.
Ruby drove into the pitstop, and the this time the pit crew were a lot faster, and Ruby was out way ahead of Pyrrha.
She was roughly four seconds behind Yang, who had pitted a lap earlier, but three seconds ahead of Pyrrha, and Blake a second after.
After a couple more laps, Ozpin's voice came over the radio.
"Ruby, just try and keep third place okay? Don't take any risks, because Yang is pulling away from you at about half a second each lap."
"Okay, I got it," said Ruby.
Ruby knew that she couldn't catch up with Yang, so she just drove normally. This put her under less pressure, and Ruby began to relax, although only a little bit. She kept losing time to Yang, but she more or less kept the same time gap in front of Pyrrha.
After that, the race went on as normal, with nothing really special happening.
It was the penultimate lap and then, it happened. Ruby turned into the final corner, but before she knew it she was spinning.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" said Ruby panicking.
Luckily, she managed to get the car straight and running, but Pyrrha was literally on her tail. (Well, not literally, but it's a figure of speech!)
"Okay Ruby, just stay calm, you've got this..."
She managed to stay ahead of Pyrrha for the first half of the lap. After that, they were almost neck and neck as the went down the straight. As they made turn twelve, Pyrrha managed to get in front of Ruby slightly, but Ruby still had the inside advantage, so she managed to pull level again. At turn thirteen, the same happened, except now Pyrrha had the inside, so she accelerated away from Ruby.
The young prodigy groaned inwardly. What had seemed like an easy podium, was now a heated battle. They rounded turn fourteen, and zoomed down the straight, that led to the penultimate corner. Pyrrha was still slightly ahead, but Ruby was gaining steadily. Suddenly, DRS became available, and Ruby picked up speed, going well over two-hundred and twenty miles an hour, and zoomed ahead of Pyrrha.
Ruby was clear going in to the last corner, with Pyrrha now a car-length behind. As Ruby approached it, she prayed to Oum that she wouldn't spin out like last time. Thankfully, she didn't, and let out a whoop of joy as she passed the finish line. She slowed the car down and raised both her fists in celebration. the reception she got was wild. She could hear people chanting her name, and she couldn't help smiling.
But then, Yang's words came into her head. She shouldn't let this get to her. She made a note of that when she would have to answer the press afterwards. But for now, she would just revel in the moment. She couldn't have been happier.
Race Results:
1. Lie Ren
2. Yang Xiao Long
3. Ruby Rose
4. Pyrrha Nikos
5. Blake Belladonna
6. Nora Valkyrie
7. Jaune Arc
8. Neptune Vasilias
9. Weiss Schnee
10. Russel Thrush
Standings:
1. Lie Ren- 50
2. Yang Xiao Long- 36
3. Pyrrha Nikos- 24
4. Blake Belladonna- 18
5. Weiss Schnee- 17
6. Ruby Rose- 15
7. Nora Valkyrie- 14
8. Cardin Winchester- 10
9. Jaune Arc- 10
10. Neptune Vasilias- 4
11. Edward Azul- 2
12. Rouge Scarlet- 1
13. Russel Thrush- 1
Ruby stepped on to the podium along with Yang and Ren. There was cheering as they opened the champagne and sprayed it on each other. Yang pulled Ruby into a tight hug.
"You drove so well out there sis! I'm so proud of you!"
Ruby normally avoided hugs from Yang, because it was embarrassing, but she was happy too, so she returned the hug. "You drove really well too!"
The two sisters stayed in their embrace for a while, before both quickly hugging Ren, and walking off stage. Several drivers were being interviewed, and Ruby was called over by some journalists.
"Ruby! You must be overjoyed to be on the podium!" said the reporter with a beaming smile.
Ruby smiled. "Yeah, it's been great. I mean, I did have a scare at the end when I span out."
"There were quite a few bated breaths when that happened," said the reporter. "People were worried when you crashed out in the first race-"
Ruby flinched inwardly at the mention of it, but tried not to show it on the outside.
"- but it seems the risks that you took today paid off!"
"Yeah," said Ruby. "When I was racing, I was just thinking about whether I should do it. But you know, nothing ventured, nothing gained."
"Well, you certainly gained a lot today! Hopefully this will be the start of a very good season for you, especially as many people refer to you as 'the next big thing'.
Ruby took a breath, and smiled. "People do need to remember though, I'm just a girl, that loves racing, it's always been my dream. It's nice to hear the things people have been saying, but winning is always second to me. As long as I have fun, and I enjoy what I do, then I've already succeeded in my opinion."
The reporter nodded, taking this all in. "Very modest Ms Rose," she said with a smile. "Well, we won't keep you any longer, because we're sure you'll be celebrating tonight!"
Ruby laughed a little. "Personally, I wouldn't want to, but no doubt Yang would drag me along or something!"
The reporter thanked Ruby, and she walked back to her trailer, hoping her message had come across.
"Yang? Do we really have to do this?"
"Yes! The first podium of the season for you always requires celebration!"
Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. Yang was making her, Weiss and Blake go to the fanciest club in Beacon.
Blake seemed to share similar thoughts to Ruby. "I was just gonna stay in and read..."
"Plus, I'm underage!" said Ruby.
Yang smirked. "I could always pull some strings, I mean being famous and all, we shouldn't have a problem."
Weiss snorted. "More like you'll just show them your breasts, you brute."
"At least I have breasts!" retorted Yang with a grin.
Weiss sighed. "You brute." (Is that the only insult for Yang you could come up with Weiss?)
"You're just jealous you didn't get a podium."
"Yang!" Ruby interjected. "Leave Weiss alone, she did very well to still get ninth place after starting in last."
Yang rolled her eyes. "I'm only joking around lil sis, now let's go!" said Yang cheerfully as she dragged the other three along to the club.
Yang strolled up to the front of the queue, with the other three following more sheepishly behind.
The bouncer seemed to recognise the four of them, and just waved them in. He seemed to either not know, or ignored the fact, that Ruby was underage. As soon as they stepped into the club, Ruby looked on amazed at the people dancing, and the lights.
"Let's go partay!"
Weiss looked unsure. "I'm not sure I want to party..."
"No Weiss, it's partayyy~" said Yang with a giggle. "Take care of Ruby for me! Come on Blake."
Yang dragged the unfortunate Blake off to the bar, and Ruby looked at Weiss.
"I have no idea what to do here..."
"You're not alone Ruby..."
Well, this probably won't end well xD. I wonder what are young prodigy will get up to this time? I plan to have chapter three up by tomorrow :D. I won't say anything, apart from the fact that Bumblebee and White Rose shippers will be very happy ;D. Mainly White Rose shippers though.