"You ready, Maus?" Kommissar asked playfully as she and Beca drove towards the famous German highway known as the Autobahn.
"Is the Autobahn fast?" Beca replied with equal humor. She'd come to visit Kommissar in her home country for a couple of weeks and, of course, one of the first things they had to do was to visit the fastest highway in the world. But they weren't just going for a casual drive. Oh no, they were going for a race! Kommissar had since explained that it was something of a game for DSM to have little midnight excursions on the Autobahn every once in awhile and it was something Beca simply had to be part of.
Now it was time. The light was low and excitements were high as Kommissar and the rest of DSM all headed out to the Autobahn. They all started off slow, only going about 100 kph, but that was just to ensure that everyone was together. Since it was so late, such a pace was very safe. No other cars were around to push them faster.
"Are we all here?" Pieter asked through a kind of Bluetooth phone connection that hooked every car up to everybody else.
"I think," Kommissar replied.
"Yes, we are!" a cheerful voice to the left of Kommissar replied. The voice belonged to a Kommissar-clone. Her name was Birgitte H. Sorenson and she was Kommissar's cousin, also visiting from out of country. But she'd only come from Denmark and not from the USA. She'd been an announcer during the World Championship where Beca and Kommissar and their respective Acapella groups had once competed.
"Ok then, how are we going to do this?" a deeper voice asked next, another car over. It belonged to Engel Liefson, Birgitte's boyfriend. He had red hair cut into something of a Mohawk and he wore a DSM shirt despite having never been part of DSM himself. But since he was Birgitte's boyfriend and Birgitte was Kommissar's cousin, he was able to use a bit of that family power to gain himself the status of an honor DSM singer.
"I'd say we just see go for 10 minutes and then see who's ahead by the end of it," a fifth car suggested. It belonged to Ari.
"Sounds good to me," a sixth car said. It was DSM's blond beat-boxer, Axel. There were two other cars beside Axel and they agreed with his idea.
One by one, everyone else agreed and the race's rules were set. Once everything had been agreed up in full, Kommissar began the race.
"Everyone in line!" she barked. Eight cars obediently lined up. "Now for the countdown!" she said next, then she turned to Beca.
"You want me to do it?" Beca squeaked in excitement. Kommissar nodded, a confident smile on her face. Beca's own smile somehow became even wider and she leaned into the Bluetooth speaker and, starting from five, counted down.
"5… 4…3…2...1!" Beca cried, but no sooner had the last syllable left her lips when she was suddenly thrown backwards. In the blink of an eye, eight cars were flying across the dark and empty highway, zooming along at 250 kph with ease. Beca let out a cry of surprise as her back slammed into its seat. Beside her, Kommissar laughed.
"Sorry, Maus, but you know I'm in it to win it!" she cried with absolute glee. She let out an almost psychotic laugh that Beca echoed. This more carefree Kommissar was far more fun than her stoic counterpart of the past.
It was funny to think of the differences. The Kommissar Beca had first met in her senior year of college had been so still and silent, always watching and waiting. That Kommissar had been like a snake waiting to strike. Now, a year later, the Kommissar that sat beside Beca couldn't have been any more different if she tried. This Kommissar was hooting and hollering, singing and shouting, switching back and forth between all eight of the languages she knew. She put her whole body into the race, rocking forward and backward as she drove and Beca could see her tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the song screaming from her stereo. This Kommissar was just so full of life and motion and she was anything but passive, actively cutting off her teammates just for fun. It was the total opposite of the girl Beca met at the World's. That Kommissar calculated everything she did. This one jumped in headfirst, laughing all the way.
Suddenly, Pieter cut Kommissar off.
"Scheiße!" Kommissar hissed as she was forced to break.
"Later loser!" Pieter hollered through the Bluetooth. Kommissar threw one look at Beca who, with determined eyes, nodded. Kommissar gave her a toothy grin in reply before flooring it again. A few moments later, Kommissar was in line with Pieter again. The moment she'd passed him a little, though, Beca made her move. She carefully rolled down her window, ignoring how loud and hard the wind was. She dared to lean out, struggling to keep from being blown away entirely. In her hand was a water balloon the size of a golf ball. As soon as she had a clear shot, she let go of it.
The water balloon splattered harmlessly off the hood of the car but it was enough to earn a cry of fury and shock from the man whose car had been hit. Beca, meanwhile, pulled herself back into the safety of the car, laughing madly as she rolled the window back up.
"Alright!" Kommissar whooped, giving her girlfriend a quick fist-bump before they continued to drive on. Pieter was cussing them out over the radio, but with every insult he released, the louder the laughter from the other seven cars became. It had been a harmless prank, Beca making absolutely certain that the water balloon was tiny and would only hit the car's hood and not its windshield, but the shock of it had still scared Pieter half to death anyway. It was a brilliant trick.
"Later loser!" Beca sang to Pieter, then she and Kommissar both laughed as they increased speed just a little bit more…
At minute nine, things were heating up. Cars reached the edge of the speedometer. Beca and Kommissar were third place behind Pieter who was behind Engel. Birgitte, Ari, Axel, and the others were still behind. Ari and Birgitte were currently engaged in what looked like a car dance off, both of them switching lanes at the same time over and over again. Axel was on the innermost lane, trying to gain more speed. Kommissar, however, didn't care for any of this. Instead, her blue eyes focused in on Engel.
"Ready, Beca?" she demanded.
"Ready!" Beca replied. Kommissar pushed her foot to the gas pedal one more time in reply and, as they fell in line with Pieter, Kommissar pretended to push him out of the way. It worked and Pieter was forced to move over, slowing in the process. Then last was Engel. Kommissar leaned forward, breath bated as she grew entirely focused upon this one individual. Faster, faster, faster!
Beca then stuck her arm out the window once more, feeling it get torn off almost instantly. In her hand was her phone. She flicked on its light and shined it through Engel's back window. It wasn't enough to blind him, but it was enough to distract him and even though the distraction was small, there was only five seconds left on the timer so all Kommissar and Beca needed was that one little distraction. Then, they had won. Engel briefly lifted his foot from the gas pedal to see what that flickering light in his rearview mirror was and that was when Beca and Kommissar went flying on by, almost literally, tires almost not even touching the pavement by then.
"Woo hoo!" Beca bellowed as soon as they all pulled off the highway to stop and stretch their legs and recuperate before going home.
"Wow! That Maus really is feisty," Ari mumbled, impressed. Most foreigners who traveled the Autobahn were either scared sick or only had a quiet confidence in their ability to drive. This Maus, though, had embraced the speed wholeheartedly and laughed in the face of danger. She could see why her leader might've fallen so deeply for the American.
"Yes, perhaps we have misjudged the Americans and what kind of champions they can produce," Axel agreed appreciatively.
"Yeah, you Germans may think you're special with your automotive perfection and your multiple championships, but I am the kicker of ass! I cannot be defeated!" Beca boasted, the adrenaline of the race still making her unnaturally bold. All of the larger Germans laughed at her but, for once, she didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, she laughed right along with them.
"Do you think I could drive us home?" Beca asked Kommissar next.
"If you wish," Kommissar replied and Beca's impossibly large smile got even larger still. By the end of it, it was Kommissar who was shaking with a little bit of fear. She was certain that Beca hadn't dropped below 250 kph the entire trip home.
"That was the best night ever!" the brunette declared as she exited Kommissar's poor, tired car.
"It was," Kommissar agreed, long legs shaking just slightly from how fast Beca had taken them.
"You weren't scared, were you?" Beca taunted as they entered Kommissar's house.
"Not at all," Kommissar replied, raising her chin proudly.
"Then why are your legs shaking?" Beca asked knowingly.
"Because I'm still so hyped up," Kommissar answered, not missing a beat. Then her face took on a mischievous look. "In fact, Maus, I think that I am not even ready to call it a night. I need another race. I need something else to get my blood pumping. Would you care to join me?" she trailed off with a seductive wink.
Just for a moment, Beca was at a loss for words. As dorky as Kommissar could be, she always seemed to know just how to get Beca going and it was just enough to remind them both who was in charge. Kommissar knew how to go from trembling to suave in .273 seconds flat. It was actually quite impressive. And sexy.
"I'd be more than happy to," Beca said finally. Ok, so perhaps Kommissar still always knew how to one-up her, but Beca was getting better with her comebacks. This was especially evident in what she said next: "I'd be happy to, but you should know that I only ride hard and fast."
"Don't worry, Maus," Kommissar replied with a grin. "As a German who loves the Autobahn, I wouldn't have it any other way."
AN: This was just an alternate version because I wanted to see a version where "Kicker of Ass" Beca is the one in the car with Kommissar. I like the idea that she would actually get a thrill out of this even though I'm pretty sure she'd be totally terrified. Also, in this slightly different version, Kommissar's actress is treated as a real person and a relative to Kommissar. In addition, that piece about Birgitte being an announcer in PP2 was real. She was the voice who announces DSM's performance.
(Side note, Engel is based on a very dear friend of mine. He knows who I'm talking about).