OSPREY…SWOOOSH
UO: You guys awake?
Ichigo: Yes
Andrew: Yeah yeah
Tatsuki: (Yawn) Let's go…where's Orihime?
Orihime: (sleeping on the ground.) No the evil mushrooms will not take me away from Ichigo.
UO: Help me, Disclaimer
Ichigo: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Bleach, the tracks, any future drivers and the manufacturers. Only the plot and his OC drivers are his.
UO: Thanks. This chapter is dedication to Monty Oum. Who did the Konso run on him?
Rukia: I did…he was really sad to go but when he heard about all the support he had…he had this smile on his face like he had accomplished something. I think in a few years he'll be a great soul reaper. We already found him and recruited him.
UO: Amen, thanks Rukia, On with the show.
Normal: Dialogue
"Italics and quotations": Radio, track announcer, phone conversation
Underlined and Italics: Lyrics or TV broadcast
'Italics and apostrophe': Thoughts
Bold: Yelling
Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:
Name followed by a colon: In-race TV Announcer
Chapter 24: Germany's Green Hell
Friday July 8th three hours after the driver's meeting
When we last left our heroes they were enjoying the break off from racing. From enjoying the sights in Orlando to taking part in filming a movie, their minds were far from the racing as planned. That immediately came crashing down as Isshin and Ryuken dropped a bombshell in what the next race was. It would be at the legendary Nordschliefe course at the Nürburgring, which would prove to be probably the toughest challenge of any of the Grand Prix driver's careers if they qualified. With that hanging over their heads they returned to their relaxing but with some worry mixed in.
Ichigo was now laying on the couch with Orihime tucked underneath his arm, watching some T.V after they had gone out for lunch. Chad was in the weight room and Uryuu was reading a book. Ichigo had pulled up a couple of videos of the track.
"So this is the Nürburgring. I guess Andrew wasn't kidding. This is a seriously long track." Ichigo said as he watched one of the manufacturer's tests. The test was still going after three minutes into the test.
"Its to be expected a circuit of this size. Thirteen miles what are they thinking?" Uryuu said looking up from his book. Ichigo sighed as he the video finally ended. He then looked up the fatality list and it was not a pretty sight. Orihime clutched onto him as she saw the list was really long.
"So we have a thirteen mile course that has constant weather and elevation changes. It has been the site of many fatal wrecks both on and off the track and has even been boycotted. Why are we going to this circuit again?" Ichigo said out loud.
"They said something about bringing back the historical tracks of the old grand prix. That us also why they are limiting the field and they are making us start from a standing start.
"Standing start?" Orihime asked.
"Its an old style of starting." The group turned to see Andrew and Tatsuki with his game system. "The two main ways of lining up drivers are the rolling start, or the Indianapolis start and the standing start."
"What's the difference?" Orihime asked curiously.
"A standing start is where those that qualify are lined up at the start based on their qualifying effort. You start your engines, put into gear and then wait for the lights to tell you when to go. Most of the lower tier European leagues do this. The rolling start, what we've been using, is where you are already under power before the green flag drops." Andrew said tossing a controller to Ichigo who juggled it.
"What's with the controller?" Ichigo asked frowning.
"We may not be able to race on the track itself, but most racing games have this track and its really accurate."
"So all our training and all our skill being learned actually driving the cars are going to be replaced with a simulation?" Uryuu said incredulously.
"Your just afraid of being beat." Andrew said as the game turned on. Uryuu growled and grabbed a controller.
As the title screen came on, Andrew moved through the screens and ended up on the driver select screen. Everyone had to laugh as they had representations of all the drivers in the Grand Prix. Andrew explained there were other modes that involved production cars and even a career mode. They instantly chose their respective avatars and went to the selected track screen. All of the Grand Prix tracks were there along with tracks they raced on the in the past. Selecting Nordschliefe and adjusting the laps to three laps they began to play. After the first few minutes of this, one thing became abundantly clear. This course was really hard even in a simulation. They had spun out, flown off the track and crashed into each other several times all on the first lap. The girls laughed at all the frustration that the drivers were going through as they started to learn the track. At the same time they also took notes so they could study the track later.
Eventually they were able to get through the race relatively clean after about twenty different tries. Afterwards, they switch to racing each other on different tracks while the girls went and got their laptops and started browsing the internet.
Tatsuki was looking up a Youtube video of a show Andrew liked when she noticed some of the comments look like they were condolences. Looking up the name she slightly widened her eyes.
"Uh Andrew?"
"Yeah…god damn it Chad." Andrew yelled as Chad spun him out.
"Who's Monty Oum?"
"He's the guy who created RWBY, must say he does amazing work. Why do you ask?"
"He's…dead. Has been for the last week." Tatsuki said.
Instantly everything went silent and the game paused. "Really?" Andrew asked. "What happened?"
"Something about an allergic reaction for a medical procedure. There's a lot of tributes going on. Let's see, ah here we go. 'In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to.' He was only 33." Tatsuki said.
Andrew sighed. "They talk about us having some of the most dangerous jobs in the world. But people die like that almost every day. Man it seems a little less colorful now."
"Did this guy have such a large impact?" Uryuu asked.
"Yeah, those animations were awesome and they probably inspired a lot of people. Artists and writers definitely but who knows how much he inspired people. Like those youtubers you showed me." Ichigo said.
"If only there was…what's the time in Dallas, Texas?" Andrew asked looking over to Tatsuki.
"Uh…let's see its four here so it's…one am today. We are fifteen hours ahead of them."
"Okay…I have an idea, let me call Kisuke." Andrew said walking to get his phone.
"What are you doing?" Orihime asked.
"Well I figured out a way to not only honor Monty but to also give them some positive publicity." Andrew said dialing up Kisuke. After a few minutes Andrew came back. "Kisuke is on for it now we need to wait till they are awake. In the meantime, Chad I owe you for that last race."
The four drivers went back to playing and even the girls got involved as they tried to match their skill.
About 10:00 PM Tokyo time 7:00 AM US Central Time Friday July 8th
They were now all sitting at a conference table with a video screen pulled up. Andrew had sent off an e-mail to one of the staffers and he actually got a reply about three hours ago. Now they were waiting on the staff in Austin. Considering that this involved their team, Isshin, Ryuken and Kisuke were in the meeting.
Soon the screen came to life and five people were sitting at a table. In the center was a man about Isshin's age with a beard and dressed in a green casual shirt.
"Hello are you guys there? Can you read us?" The man said.
"Mr. Burns we can here ya." Isshin said.
"Ah good. So I understand one of your drivers e-mailed us about a tribute to our fallen animator." Burns said.
Isshin nodded and motion to Andrew who stood up. "First I want to offer my sincere condolences. Monty was a great man from what I heard and I loved the shows he worked on. I remember you guys put out a message about creating something nice to be a tribute.
"Yeah, I've seen so many tributes I never knew Monty had this many fans." A red head on the right side of the table said. She was wearing a dark red shirt and looked extremely happy despite it being early in the morning.
"So what do you guys want?" A blonde said to the left. "You want to burn out here. You can have a grand prix at our new projects?" (I could not resist)
The entire Rooster Teeth contingent face planted.
"DAMN IT BARB! I thought you would behave." Bernie yelled.
The embarrassment quickly turned to confusion when Isshin of all people laughed. "That was funny little lady."
Bernie let out a breath. "Okay so I know it's probably late over there so can we here your idea?"
Andrew nodded. "I was thinking, our team on our cars could have one of the main characters from RWBY. We can have them be on the hood and then have the color scheme to match.
The red head girl's eyes lit up. "Oh my god that would be so cool. Bernie can we do that please?" The girl said squealing.
Bernie looked at the girl. "Alright Lindsey. We can do that." Lindsey cheered. He turned to the screen. "Are we going to sponsor you guys or are we providing the artwork?"
The next few minutes were spent discussing the different aspects of the deal that was going to happen including some of the basic sketches of the car designs.
"So I haven't really kept track of the Grand Prix what race is next?" Barbara asked.
"It's Germany." Andrew asked. Instantly the four girls who were with them widened their eyes. "I see." Said a dark skinned woman. "It wasn't just the message. You tied the RWBY girls to the place where their character inspirations come from."
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.
Andrew explained. "Most of the characters in RWBY are based on some sort of theme. The main girls are based on four fairy tales. Ruby Rose is based on Little Red Riding Hood, if you watch her trailer. The full name for Ms. Eberle's character is Weiss Schnee. In German that means White Snow, or Snow White. Blake Belladona is based on Beauty and the Beast and Yang I believe is either Goldilocks or Cinderlla. All four were German fairy tales or at least collected by the Brothers Grimm."
"You are well informed Andrew. Well then I hope the cars come out great and good luck." Bernie said.
"Thanks, and again our deepest sympathies for your
The video ended and they left to get ready for bed.
Souske headquarters July 11th
Gin was walking through the hallways of the building heading towards one area in particular. Stopping at a door he waited for a couple of minutes and then his companion arrived. It was Tier who looked like she had better places to be.
"Gin, you better have a good reason pulling me away on our day off." Tia said with an annoyed frown.
Gin kept his smile focused on Tier. "Now, now Ms. Harribel, do you honestly think I would try to deceive you."
The blonde glared at the grey haired man. Gin seeing the look her eyes raised his hands for peace. "Fine. Tell me Tier on your way here did you notice any cameras?"
Tier just looked up and down the hall. "No I did not see any. Is there any reason why?"
Gin just pressed something on the wall. Instantly an eye scanner appeared and he put his eye to next to it. The door opened up to reveal an elevator.
"After you my fair lady." Gin mocked bowed.
The two walked into the elevator and went down. A few tense moments later the elevator opened up.
Tier walked in and Gin flipped on the lights. Multiple vats of weird looking machines were shown.
(Bleach OST: Treachery)
"What are these?" Tier asked her eyes stern.
"These are ASX-275 Nanobots codenamed, Terror Bites and, the ASX-270 Mechons. Bio weapons that were banned following the Islamic Civil War." Gin said.
"Why does Aizen have this?" She asked Gin.
"Simple. Aizen bought these when the war began on the black market and then sold it to the Islamic Preservation Front. He then used the assets to buy out the old infrastructure and that's how he got his billions." Gin said morbidly as he moved to a computer.
"Aizen…he's nothing but a war profiteer." Tia said.
"It's much worse than that. He has control of most of the hydrogen energy production market, creating monopolies in the Middle East, South America and Africa. There are only two companies that has more market share in this market than Souske." Gin said inserting a flash drive.
Tier looked deep in thought and then looked at Tier. "Kuchiki and Kurosaki."
"Bingo. Control the energy and control the world. That's why they've been targeting those teams. And its not limited to off the track.
"What do you mean?"
"Come now…do you honestly think Souske has won the majority of his races legitimately? You might have noticed a few incidents, most notably a certain race where drivers complained about axles breaking."
Tier looked at Gin wide-eyed. "You mean he launched these things in Russia? My wreck was caused by these things."
"Same with Kurosaki and Michaels wreck." Gin confirmed.
Tier looked at the machines. "What do I need to do Gin?"
Gin smiled. If he doubted Tier's resolve before, there wasn't any now. "You need to keep an eye on Ulquiorra and Grimmjow they are Aizen's dogs. Now then the next race in Germany is going to be limited on the number of drivers. Chances are one of us is not going to qualify. So here's what's going to happen. If you qualify and I don't you try to make sure Michaels and Kurosaki-kun get to the end. If Yasotora-kun and or Ishida-kun are in, do the same for them. If you don't qualify, I trust you to give this." Gin held up the flash drive. "To either Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san, Ishida-san or if your desperate, Urahara-san."
Tier nodded. "Now then, just don't tell your little posse. If they catch wind of this, then they will be easy targets to get you to comply with Aizen."
Tier reluctantly agreed and the two left the laboratory and then went their separate ways.
Nuremberg, Germany, July 14th about 1:30 Central European time
The Kurosaki contingent had reached Germany that morning after a long flight from Tokyo. They had just lunch with Chad and Uryuu and now were shopping in pairs in the shops the town. The interesting thing is that pairs weren't the normal couples. Ichigo had gone with Tatsuki while Orihime tagged along with Andrew. The reason? Ichigo and Tatsuki's birthday was coming up. In fact Ichigo's was tomorrow and Tatsuki's was Sunday. In addition, Andrew's was the next week on the 24th so they had started looking for gifts as well.
Orihime and Andrew entered one of the shops. Both had already found her gifts for Ichigo and Orihime had found hers for Tatsuki and now was waiting on Andrew to find a gift for Tatsuki. This was a jewelry shop that looked like it had been around a while.
"Guten Tag my fine patrons, welcome to Nuremberg Rings." The store owner greeted getting the two to laugh at the word play. Andrew started to browse around the store.
"Is there something you are looking for young man?" The owner said.
"Well, this is the first birthday I am celebrating with my girlfriend and I was looking for something a little special for her."
"Ah, then perhaps these collections of birthstones will interest you." The man said walking to a glass case with several precious gems.
"July is Ruby. Fitting because of her fiery personality." Andrew said looking through the jewelry. He spotted something unique. It was a cross with a wolf's head and rubies on the points."
"Orihime come take a look at this." The bubbly girl walked over to see the cross. "Oh wow, so pretty. Tatsuki will love it."
"Ah yes, the wolf. A pack oriented animal who in folk lore was considered evils. Wolves are devoutly loyal to their pack and will protect each other.
Andrew smiled and asked the owner to wrap it up and pay for it. As they were leaving, the owner called out to him. "May the wolf's spirit protect your friend, young man. For I feel something will happen to them soon."
Andrew looked at the cross. "Thanks, I hope she likes it." The two left the store to return to their friends.
Next day at the track
The four drivers arrived in the garage and saw their cars being rolled out for qualifying. Whoever was in charge of painting the cars did a really great job capturing the color scheme of the four girls. Chad had Yang on his hood with the silhouette from her trailer of the back and the 66 was outlined with flames. Ichigo would have Blake on his car and had moon imagery on the trunk. Uryuu's car was snow themed with Weiss as the girl on his hood. That left Ruby with the dark red and crimson coloring on Andrew's car with rose petals coming out of the 91 on the sides. (The four images are the four preview pictures.)
"Wow our crews did a great job." Andrew said.
"I must say the thought of promoting such a show boggled my mind. These look exquisite."
"Honestly from the characters I think they gave us the characters that best represented our personalities, save maybe Chad. Don't think he is a pun master." Ichigo said laughing.
Chad grunted as the press had come over after Tatsuki and Orihime had taken their pictures. They answered questions about the show and who they were honoring and even their thoughts about the race.
They were just about to wrap up their interviews when a very snide voice sounded.
"What the heck is this? Some sort of modeling shoot?" The irritating voice of Grimmjow called out. He was with Ulquiorra and their crew chiefs.
"What do you want Cat boy?" Ichigo asked.
"Just came to look at the competition this week." He looked over at the cars and sneered. "Oh what's with the girly cars? You guys trade up or something. Or more likely trade down especially with the red riding hood reject."
The Kurosaki driver could only imagine the kicked puppy expression that Ruby would give off. Andrew chuckled. "What's wrong, is the fact that these fake girls are prettier than anything that would date you?"
Grimmjow snarled and moved to try to punch him, but Ulquiorra held him back. "Cease your behavior. Qualifying will begin soon. You need to focus."
Grimmjow tsked. "Fine, pale ass. Mark my words Kurosaki, this is not over." Grimmjow said walking away.
Uryuu adjusted his glasses. "I feel he may be right. They obviously have it out for us. They must not like the competition."
"I don't know. They've started acting a bit more aggressive towards us." Chad said.
"Regardless we need to get ready for qualifying. Remember the format so we need to do well." Ichigo said as they moved down the pit lane.
Much like the starting procedure, qualifying was different as well. They would send the cars out one at a time where they would send the cars out one at a time, then the next car in line would start its warm-up lap as the previous car was in the middle of its lap. You could tell by the frustration of some of the drivers that this was going to be a long day especially those who were waiting on the bubble.
Andrew was standing next to his car ready to get in when he saw the scoring monitors. He was the 30th to go and all three of his teammates had gone with Ichigo having done the best with 6th. Chad unfortunately did not qualify well enough and was eliminated three drivers ago. The big surprise was Serenity was one driver off the bubble and he figured she was not going to make it considering who was left to qualify. Strapping in, he waited for the signal to leave. Once prompted he took his first real lap on the course. Just from the warm-up lap he was already not liking the real course. All the twists and turns, the elevation changes were not helping his stomach either.
"Kisuke you might want to call Dr. Unohana about getting a motion sickness patch."
"Is it that bad?" He asked concerned.
"You…(burp)…would not believe it. I can hold it for the lap."
"Roger."
Andrew finally got around to starting his qualifying lap and despite his motion sickness he was able to put in a decent third place provisional starting spot knocking Allen Regan out of the race. When he came into the garage he quickly climbed out of the car and ran to a garbage can and threw up.
Tatsuki saw him and went over to soothe him. She rubbed his back as he sat down on the pavement. Soon enough the paramedics walked over to him as he unzipped his suit to breathe.
"Hello there Michaels-san, I heard from your crew chief." Nurse Kotestu said as she checked over him.
"Ugh…this is what happens when I don't have something in my belly before doing that. The long wait after lunch really caused this. This happens in the mountains but oddly not in the flatter areas."
Isane checked over him and then his temperature. Finding nothing wrong she gave him some patches to use for the race.
"I can assure you, you weren't the only affected. You were just the only that didn't make it to the clinic. I can see why this circuit was not used." Isane said.
"Am I good?"
"Yes. Just take it easy and get some ginger ale." Isane said.
Andrew nodded. "You coming to the celebration tonight?"
"Uh…what celebration?" Isane said confused.
"It's a birthday party for Ichigo and an early one for Tatsuki as they are two days apart." Andrew said standing up.
"Oh that one…yes Chad invited me. Can't wait." Isane said with a small blush.
Andrew smiled but then a voice he didn't want to here came up to him.
"What's this laying down on the job, you little punk?" Grimmjow said.
"I am not laying down on the job pussy cat."
"Tch…so there is a kink your armor, you get car sick."
"I know I am not the only one in the world that gets car sick but seriously with all the twists and turns I would have problems too."
"Michaels-san is not the only one that experienced this issue. Please do not antagonize him." Isane said.
Grimmjow looked at Isane. "Your lucky that you're an official girly." He said walking away.
Tatsuki stood up. "Hold on." The blue haired man stopped and looked at Tatsuki. "Loly and Menoly, where are they?"
"What's it too ya? Oh wait your one of the reporter girls. If I recall there were nine NGC teams one for each of us."
Grimmjow chuckled. "Oh they are fine, though I think they now like our way of thinking." Grimmjow said walking away.
Tatsuki and Andrew looked at each other. This information disturbed them a little bit and walked back to their plane.
Tier was walking back to the Souske plane with a small frown. Of the four Souske cars, she was the only one that did not qualify and she was the last one to be eliminated from qualifying. She was lost in thought until she bumped into someone. Looking up she saw it was Gin.
"Tough break Tier." Gin said. The blonde looked at the silver haired man who just held up a flash drive. "The pits are separated enough that you can make the exchange. Just make sure you aren't seen.
Tier looked at it and then happened to glance at her crew. They were arguing over something mundane again. She looked at the drive again and took it from Gin. "Very well. I'll let my handler know."
Gin walked away leaving Tier to her thoughts.
Starting Line-Up: Germany (Only the Top 20 qualify to race. Those who don't will get points based on the position they qualify)
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez
Ulquiorra Cifer
Jason Webber
George Schumacher
Andrew Michaels
Patricia Stenhouse
Bjorn Kristensen
Raoul Garcia
Jason Vettal
Ichigo Kurosaki
Brian Mcnish
Ralph Dillon
Uryuu Ishida
Dale Earnhardt IV
Rebecca Kirkland
Michael Kennseth
Soi Fong
Kira Izuru
Gin Ichimaru
Renji Abarai
Tier Harribel DNQ 16 points
Flippe Massa III DNQ 15 points
Serenity Gordon DNQ 14 points
Allen Regan DNQ 13 points
Archie Stewart DNQ 12 points
Robert Johnson DNQ 11 points
Jessica Rosburg DNQ 10 points
Chad Yasotora DNQ 9 points
Michael Bush DNQ 8 points
Alexandra Edwards DNQ 7 points
Ralph Hamilton DNQ 6 points
Shawn Newman DNQ 5 points
Ikkaku Madarame DNQ 4 points
Francesca Alonso DNQ 3 points
Marcus Andretti DNQ 2 points
Maria Robertson DNQ 1 point
Hours later at a Nuremberg bar
The whole team had rented out a restaurant to hold the birthday party for Ichigo and Tatsuki. Tatsuki had said she didn't want to ruin Ichigo's party with her birthday, but it didn't mean she was not grateful for it and so the party became a celebration for both of them. Most of the crew had gotten Ichigo either cards or small gifts it was the family and drivers that gave him more personal gifts. From the twins, they got him a black motorcycle jacket with the words Number one protector in Kanji. From Andrew he got some of the latest manga books of some of his favorite series. Tatsuki got him a hat that matched the jacket which she got some help from the girls. Orihime made a personal album of all their time together with plenty of room for the future. Ichigo kissed Orihime after that promising that this book will be filled up. After receiving the gifts, Ichigo stood up.
"I want to thank you all for supporting me, for all of these gifts and more importantly supporting this team through all of their ups and downs. This birthday is definitely going to be remembered for a while." He said as they toasted to him. The party continued for a few hours and then they broke up to carpool back to the plane.
When they got there the four broke away from the crew and went into Ichigo's room.
"Sorry if the party was a bit over the top." Ichigo said.
Tatsuki waved it off. "It's fine. Just celebrating it with you guys is fine with me."
"I think next year all three of us should celebrate our birthdays together. I mean they are within ten days of each other." Andrew said.
Orihime pouted. "Mou…I'm the only one left out. My Birthday is in September."
Ichigo pulled Orihime close and kissed her. "That means your birthday will be more focused on you not everyone else."
Andrew cleared his throat. "As much as I want to see the PDA, Tatsuki why don't we give you your gifts?"
Tatsuki smiled. "Again you didn't have to do anything. But thanks." The three got up and went to get their gifts for Tatsuki. Orihime gave hers first. It was a book on European fighting styles Orihime found in town. Tatsuki was grateful for that and couldn't wait for the other two. Ichigo's gift was more modest, a picture frame with one of their group shots from Disney World.. "This is to remind you we are closer than most people think. Don't forget that."
Tatsuki smiled and hugged Ichigo. Lastly, Andrew gave her a rectangular box. Curious she took off the wrapping paper and opened it up. Inside was a beautiful silver cross with a wolf's head in the middle of the cross and rubies on the edges.
"I saw this and I figured a beautiful cross deserves a beautiful wearer." Andrew said as he walked around and helped put on the cross.
She looked down at the metallic object and smiled with a small tear in her eyes. "I'm not taking this off ever."
Andrew smiled and kissed her tenderly. The two red heads smiled at the interaction and complimented Tatsuki on the cross. After an hour of talking and playing some games they went to their rooms to sleep off the inevitable hangover.
Sunday July 17th about 8:00 Central European Time
Tatsuki woke up from her slumber and looked at her boyfriend who was sleeping soundly. She stretched and rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed. Looking outside she frowned in concern at the weather. The clouds on the horizon spoke of rain and considering Andrew's concerned she was worried that the weather was going to play a huge factor. She might not have been Christian or religious, but her hand unconsciously went to her new cross.
"You get that feeling to?" Andrew said sitting up and wrapping his arms around her lingerie clad body.
"Something…doesn't feel right about today."
"I know. But, we'll get through this." Andrew said hugging her close. After a few moments Andrew took both of their hands and placed them together in a prayer.
"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom thy will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven. Gives us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and glory forever. Amen." He said quietly. He looked at Tatsuki. "The Lord's Prayer, well the version I was taught."
Separating Andrew walked over to his music player. "I have a feeling that something big will happen soon. And our days of being naïve will be over." He said looking down at the song. "Fitting, I suppose." Andrew said pressing play.
(Play Time to Say Goodbye by Jeff Williams and his daughter Casey. RIP Monty Long live RWBY)
As the song starts up the camera fades into the track and sheer vastness of the track is seen. Zooming in it shows the Kurosaki team with their respective girls. Behind them Chad in his civilian clothes is walking along in a show of solidarity.
Over in the Souske pit Aizen was giving instructions to the crew and drivers. Tier off to the side her normal clothes was watching with a securitizing gaze while fingering the flash drive in her pocket.
The camera shifts back over to the track as the crews are moving the cars onto the grid. The feeling of rain forced many of the crews to go to a softer compound tire. Also on the car's windshield wipers in case the weather does turn for the nasty.
In the air multiple helicopters are flying around in a synchronize dance. Due to the sheer size of the track and the tree cover the helicopters and blimps needed to be a good spot to cover the entirety of the track.
In the racing booths many different people were trying to coordinate the cameras on the ground and on the track. With so much territory to cover, the various networks were going to be working together.
As Isshin and Ryuken go over the plans with Kisuke they happen to glance over at the Souske pit crews. It might not have been discernible but Isshin could have sworn Aizen caught his eye and gave off a cocky smirk.
In the driver's meeting, Yammamato had warned all of the drivers that were participating to be extremely careful. If they wrecked it might take time to get to them and they would need to exit their cars as promptly as they could. With one last note about the weather they were dismissed to get ready.
(End previous song start Hell's Bells by AC/DC)
(Bell starts tolling) Nordschliefe. Germany's most famous track. And the deadliest. For over 150 years, drivers have come to test the ring. With its highlands, forest and complicated turns, this the ultimate test of driving. From manufacturers to sports cars, a lap here is a lap in history. Infamous history that is.
(Guitar starts up.) They used to race here until the length of the track became too dangerous and too long for racing forcing the creation of a Grand Prix circuit. For over a hundred years this track has been relegated to sports cars and driver tests, with the public even trying it, though with similar results. (Camera pans to the on-track EMS station. Multiple cars are shown wrecked.)
(First Verse plays) Because of the sheer size of the track, they had to cut the field. Twenty brave souls will tackle what is considered the toughest track in the world. (As the above is said all twenty drivers are shown briefly.) These brave drivers are about to get a taste of what it means to truly be the best.
(Begin bridge) There is an old expression that seems very true to this race. It is truly hell(Track is shown) to get to heaven. (Championship trophy is shown.) Welcome to Germany)
(Chorus rings out as the gates of the track loom in front of the camera)
(Fox music plays as it pans over the woods.)
Jeremy: An imposing green fortress greets us as we welcome you to round 17 of the World Grand Prix at the legendary Nürburgring.
(Pans to the Fox booth)
Jeremy: Greetings from Germany. I am Jeremy Buck and he is Nate Jarrett. Welcome to what is possibly the toughest circuit in the world. It is so large that we can't even show the whole track on a single screen. (Map appears behind them)
Nate: Nearly thirteen miles long, it will take at least seven minutes to complete a lap and if they thought the fatigue last week was something the drivers are really going to be feeling it this week. Every conceivable challenge is here at this track from elevation changes to drastic weather changes.
Jeremy: From one tough challenge to another let's look at last time in Daytona. (Begin montage) It was an All-American flavor last time as we raced in Daytona Beach under the lights for Fourth of July.
Nate: From the get go most of the race was dominated by the Hendrick cars especially those of Serenity Gordon and Dale Earnhardt IV. They held off challenges from all comers including our front two starters Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer.
Jeremy: In the end it was the heir to the Earnhardt family that won as we take a look at the standings from last week. Ichigo Kurosaki and Andrew Michaels are continuing to lead the drivers standings and Kurosaki continue to dominate the points standings. But this race is a separation race of sorts. (Pans to the grid.) Because of the sheer size of the track, there are only 20 drivers on the grid this week. (List of drivers in the field are shown.) Four Audis, Three each from Kurosaki, Kuchiki and Souske, two from all the other teams save Ferrari which has one and no one from Stewart-Haas Among the drivers not in the field today, is the defending champion Serenity Gordon. Jermaine is with our champion.
Jermaine: Thank you Jeremy. Miss Gordon you are definitely not in the right clothes for racing. What happened on Friday?
Serenity: Well I guess we were unlucky. I mean I know our corvettes can run this track near the seven minute mark and I guess we got off the line a little too much especially in the technical areas and well here I am.
Jermaine: If it was any other track you would be in the very back.
Serenity: I know. But it doesn't mean I can't cheer on my teammates who did make it in.
Jermaine: So true. Back to you Jeremy.
After a couple more segments Jushiro opened the next segment.
Jushiro: Race cars have long been a source of advertisement. Whether it be a charity or a movie, racing is a sure way to get your message across. But for the Kurosaki team, they are advertising more than a show. They are honoring the man who created the show, who like all good men died too soon. Our reporter Kiyone Kotestu is with the Kurosaki team that made it in to the race standing next to the 32 of Uryu Ishida who is sporting a slightly different color scheme this week along with Ichigo and Andrew.
Kiyone: Thanks sempai. Guys I understand you guys are honoring someone who has made an impact in the animation world.
Uryuu: Yes. We learned in the last week or so a man named Monty Oum, who created the series that is on our hood died due to some medical complications. We called up Rooster Teeth the production company, who I am sure are watching this, and discussed plans to honor him and well I think they came out great.
Kiyone: Why did you decide to do this in lieu of flowers?
Ichigo: Well before we talked to Rooster Teeth, we read their blog concerning his death. They said that to honor him, we should create some sort of art. Well I think the great artwork here with the characters will honor him.
Kiyone: Speaking of the characters, who are they?
Andrew: The show is called RWBY, pronounced Ruby. The four letters are represented by the four main girls. Weiss Schnee here. (Points to Uryuu's car) Is the W. Ichigo's car has Blake Belladonna, the B and my car has Ruby Rose, the R. Chad had Yang Xiao Long, the Y but unfortunately he's not in today's race. One other thing and quite honestly it's fitting, the three characters we have are based on three German fairy tales. To be more specific, Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast.
Kiyone: Remind me to look it up when I get home. Thanks. Andrew starts 5th, Ichigo is 10th and Uryuu is 13th.
After a few more segments the drivers began strapping into their cars.
Japan Booth
Kommamura: Before we get the engines fired let's look at the stats of the track.
Jushiro: It is nearly 13 miles. So they will only attempt twenty laps. Fuel window will be 4-5 laps. Weather is going to be a factor no matter what they do. They might have to gamble on their tires near the end of the race.
Kommamura: What about the start? Everyone is starting from a dead stop.
Jushiro: Yes that could also be an issue they have to be on their toes. Lastly, they will feel alone in the car. No spotters because the track is so large. It's just them and the car.
On the track everyone was strapping in and the crews were vacating the track. In his car Andrew had just finished strapping, waiting for the command to start. He happened to glance over to his left and saw a red hooded figure walking in front of the car. Before he could call it out, the figure vanished in a flurry of roses. Judging by the lack of reactions he was the only that saw it.
"This motion sickness patch is messing with my head Kisuke."
"Just give it some time."
Up near the front Aizen was talking to Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. "We've got people in the field just race and we got the win."
The two nodded at the order.
"DRIVERS. START. YOUR. ENGINES!
The cars roared to life and the warmed up. They revved up the engines waiting for the signal. At the start line there were a series of lights that had started to illuminate. When the first row lit up, all the engines started revving to full power. Once all of the lights lit up there was a tense moment where all the engines roared at full power while in gear. Then lights went out an it was like a damn was let go as all of the cars started moving at once. A couple of the cars spun their tires due to the cold tires forcing those behind them to dodge out of the way. Up front the front five cars quickly got up to sixth gear as they approached the section next to the GP circuit. Turning left and then right they entered a set of S-turns. After that the track started to climb and went into a sweeping left turn which went to a sharp right. Going up to full speed again they reached another switch back in attempt to slow the cars down before entering another section of turns. Another section of going almost all the way to top speed they reached a hairpin turn before going into a very fast sweeping stretch where for the first time since Road America, the engines reached their max power output. This continued for another mile before they reached the slowest part of the track, called the Karusell. From the wait they entered the turn it really did look like a merry-go-round as the turn had shades of Daytona with the large banking. Leaving the turn the cars were able to get back up to fifth gear before another bus stop was encountered. Coming out of that section they encountered more hills before one more bus stop turn set them up on the home stretch.
American Booth
Jeremy: And unbelievably after all of that, that was only one lap of twenty. The times are near the 7:15 mark.
Nate: That was completely exhausting from the booth's perspective and this is just one lap. Imagine twenty laps of this.
On the track, Andrew had actually started to lose ground as he could not seem to slow down properly. Either he was impatient or he honestly was missing his marks. He lost two spots by the time he got back around for the next lap and was now going to be passed by his teammate.
"Damn it. Why am I missing my marks?"
"It could be your pride." Uryuu called out.
"Who asked you Uryuu?" Andrew growled.
"Your trying too hard to beat Grimmjow and Ulquiorra is what he's trying to say." Kisuke said.
"Ugh…fine." Andrew said going through the Berwick section. "Still doesn't help me with this loose car."
"Doesn't help that it is starting to rain over in west part of the track. Your call on changing the tires."
Andrew did not hesitate. "Get the softer tires out. How close are you to the start finish line Ichigo?"
"About two minutes. I'll come in."
The crews immediately went to get the soft tires ready as Ichigo came in. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were more than confident in their tires and bypassed the pits as the Kurosaki cars decided to play it smart and switch tires.
Japan Booth
Kommamura: As reports of rain trickle in, some of the drivers have opted to go for the softer tires now.
Jushiro: The Kurosaki team is among those not taken chances as the points leader comes, presumably followed by his teammates. Kiyone?
Kiyone: That is exactly what is going on. Ichigo changing tires and also fueling up so he could presumably make on three or four more stops depending on if the weather changes.
Jushiro: This is a playing it safe attitude. I know Ichigo and Uryuu, this is more Uryuu's MO. And even Andrew would not play it safe. This track is truly treacherous if they are willing to play it safe.
Kommamura: Regardless, because of where the pits are they lose a lot of time and now Ichigo is 8th as Andrew comes in.
After they came in, Andrew and Uryuu were in 11th and 14th. As they went through the gears they worked on a strategy to find their way back up to the front.
After the pit stops, Kisuke was doing some calculations when Kensei caught his attention. When he turned around, he saw Tier Harribel standing there. He walked over to her.
"Ms. Harribel, a pleasant surprise."
Tier acknowledged. "Mr. Urahara. I believe a mutual friend told you about me?"
Kisuke nodded. "Do you have the drive?"
Tier nodded and produced it. "You won't like what is on here."
Kisuke nodded. "Will do. You didn't have to risk yourself."
"I know." Tier said walking away.
Kisuke looked at the flash drive and put it away and returned to the pit box.
Six laps and two pit stops later, Andrew was now in 9th having passed Ichigo having finally gotten into a groove. As they drove through the Augsberg section, Andrew suddenly started having some sort of flash.
Andrew's mind.
Andrew is driving through the section before the Karussel. Suddenly one of the cars in front of him blew a tire and got into the dirt which had turned into a mud due to some of the rain. The driver over corrected and hit the car he was passing. They both bounced back onto the track right in front of him and he collided with them at full speed.
Andrew snapped of it. He radioed Kisuke. "Kisuke put Tatsuki or Orihime on the line Now!"
Kisuke decided to humor Andrew. "Your boyfriend wants you."
Tatsuki took it and started to answer. "What's going on?"
"I just had a vision. Something is going to happen in the run up the Karussel."
"How bad?" Tatsuki asked getting Kisuke's attention.
"Like I could get sent to the hospital bad."
"Who were the cars?" Tatsuki said as Orihime handed her the pad that monitored their progress.
"Uh…one was black. It was the 3, and I think…a Porsche."
Tatsuki looked at the monitor. "Okay let me see if I can get their attention." Tatsuki said looking over to the pit stall next to them. She got the attention of the crew chief and tried explaining it to them. At their rebuttal she tried to get the Hendrick crew's attention but was pulled back by Kisuke.
Andrew took the long silence as she failed. He cursed and then tried to make plans to avoid it.
At the spot in question, one of the Aizen's hired men was in position. At the given signal he fired a small shot hit the wheel of the Porsche driven by Jason Vettal. He immediately tried to over correct and he hit Ralph Dillon who was trying to pass him. They got sent into the Armco barriers and careened into the track.
Andrew saw the wreck, and he couldn't find a way to dodge it. He cursed and braced for impact.
Kisuke heard the curse and winced. Tatsuki saw the wince had immediately grabbed the cross on her neck waiting for the inevitable.
"Andrew!? Are you there? Speak to me!"
Tatsuki had her eyes closed so Orihime looked at the screen. She saw the replays and noticed that there were two cars wrecked.
"Tatsuki! He's okay!" Orihime cheered.
Tatsuki was in disbelief and looked at Andrew's car. There was no damage. Those around him were flabbergasted that he not only survived the wreck but he got through unscathed.
Kisuke voiced his sentiments. "W-What the hell just happened?
"I-I don't know. I saw the cars and braced myself. Just as they came up to my car it seemed something pushed them aside. Whatever just happened…I think something is watching over me."
American booth
Jeremy: Grimmjow going through coming out of the Brincheen, steadily increasing the gap between him and his teammate. Looking-
Nate: Trouble. On the run to the Karussel. Oh my god what an impact. It's the 3 of Ralph Dillon and the 11 of Jason Vettal. Heavy impact, local yellow in that area. This will be a while to clean-up potentially.
(Replays begin)
Nate: It looks like as they are rounding the sweeping turn when Vettal…
Jeremy: Blew a tire. He hit the grass and went to the other side of the track. They bounced off the Armco and back onto the track.
Nate: There's the 91, this looks really bad and…(cars go right past them)…I-I don't know how Andrew got through that without damage. That was surely going to be a horrible wreck at nearly 200 MPH. (Replay from Andrew's car and sees the wreck.) There is no way that should have not been a wreck.
Jeremy: I think someone or something is watching for this team. Because they've been in some nasty wrecks and avoided many others.
In Andrew's car, Andrew was nearly hyperventilating.
"Andrew? Are you okay?"
"Yeah…I just saw my life flash."
"Are you okay your times are falling off?"
Andrew said nothing. Kisuke started to arrange for a new driver as Andrew passed the start line.
Andrew though was starting to have doubts in his head. 'What just happened? I've been in worse wrecks than that? Why is that wreck messing with my head? Is it because I saw the wreck and I couldn't do anything to stop it?' Andrew started letting up more. 'God damn it. I feel like Cougar from Top Gun. Is this the end of the line? Should I give it up?'
"Nope." A feminine voice sounded getting him to jump. He looked to his right to see a red hooded girl with dark red hair and silver eyes wearing a black corset black boots with red outlines.
"Ruby Rose? Okay I am hallucinating and Ruby Rose is not in my passenger's seat."
"No let's just say some one let me come into being. Don't worry time is stopped for the moment." She said as his helmet disappeared.
Andrew sighed. "What are you doing here?"
"I came for three reasons. One, the guy who sent me wants to thank your team for honoring his legacy."
"Monty? Heh. Thanks.
"Second, I came to talk to you in your moment of doubt. You're the team leader aren't you? That's why you have my color scheme."
Andrew looked down. Ruby waved her arms and the picture of his pitbox.
"You know how many people you would let down if you quit? A lot." The image zoomed in on Tatsuki. "The moment you had that vision she gripped that cross and prayed to whatever deities you pray to. Whatever she did worked, because you had a little help from my partner Weiss.
Andrew smiled. "I guess your right. Thanks Ruby." He said. Ruby started to fade. "Good luck, and I hope you win."
"Wait. What was the third thing you had for me?"
Ruby grinned. "Well…I wonder how a car and a speed semblance will work." She said fading away.
Andrew blinked and was back in the car driving in one of the faster sections.
"-rew? Andrew are you alright?"
"…Yeah. I'm fine. Probably even better than fine."
"Do you need a replacement driver?" Kisuke asked.
"No, its fine. I feel something though."
"What?"
"I feel the need…The NEED FOR SPEED!" He shouted as he shifted into another gear.
(Play Caffeine from RWBY)
Andrew was currently in 14th but when he punched the accelerator the car seem to get a jolt of energy and starting picking up a lot of time. By the time he got to his next pit stop at lap 12 he was already in 10th.
After the pit stop he met up with Ichigo who was in 9th and began to draft with him. Every so often they would switch who was leading and who was trailing.
When they reached one of the cars they split the driver up with one taking the inside and another on the inside. The excellent team work was even noted in the booths.
In the pits the crew chiefs were looking at the times the two were putting down. The times were steadily getting lower and lower almost to the 6:50 mark. The two girls were next to each other watching their progress and also silently praying.
In the cockpit, Andrew was showing a gritty determination as he came in for what would be the final stop. Instead of taking just fuel, they both took four tires for the grip they provided. The two Souske cars in an effort to stay in front opted fuel only as they were still about fifty seconds in front of third place and another twenty-five seconds to the hard charging Kurosaki team.
(End Song)
American Booth
Jeremy: What a hard charge by the Kurosaki points leaders,
Nate: Whatever happened on the pit stop after that near-miss seems to have super jolted the 91 as they pass Soi Fong for third. It seems to have passed into the 15.
On track after 19 laps of battling the two finally saw the two Souske cars.
"You ready for this Ichigo?"
"You know it bro."
The two began drafting again in the areas they could. Ulquiorra saw the two approaching in his rearview mirror.
"Grimmjow, Kurosaki and Michaels are on our tail."
Grimmjow who was ten seconds in front looked up and could barely see the two cars steadily gaing on them. "Do something you pale bastard."
Ulquiorra nodded and began to drift back a bit in anticipation for blocking them. Approaching Whipperman he got ready to attempt block them. Remembering what they tried with everyone else, he got ready to defend one side. What he didn't expect was the corner to creep up on him and he got into the grass. With the two drivers running single file they were able to pass him with no difficulty.
Japan Booth
Kommamura: Michaels and Kurosaki to second and third and they are starting to gain on the 06.
Jushiro: We wrote Andrew off for dead an hour ago and now it looks he might win this race as they get to the final lap.
After the first set of turns the two Kurosaki drivers caught up with Grimmjow and the battle was on. Despite being on older tires, Grimmjow fought with the ferocity of his nickname. When one of his opponents got a look he slammed the door almost knocking them off course and causing them to lose momentum. This continued for the next several miles as they went through each section again. Even as they exited the first bust stop after the Karuseel they were still neck and neck. Going into the final set of turns, the engines were screaming as the two points leaders gave one last effort to win. With the length of the straight they pushed the pedal to the metal and both got to the right of Grimmjow with Andrew in the middle. The blue-haired driver fought right to the end as the came across the line, too close to call. The moment they passed the finish line Andrew's car blew its engine.
American Booth
Jeremy: This was way too close to call. They are going to go to the scoring monitors.
Nate: These drivers gave it their all on the last lap so much so the cars lost their engines. What a race.
In the pits they were waiting for the results. The looked at the pylon which had not shown the final results. Soon enough the numbers came in and it showed 91, 15, 06 in that order. Tatsuki was the first to break out of her stupor and let out an uncharacteristic cheer as the rest of the group caught up to her and celebrated.
In the car, Andrew was catching his breath. He looked and saw Ichigo also in the same state.
"Kisuke…who won?"
"(Cheering) You did what a race!"
Andrew smiled and removed his helmet. He looked at Ichigo who got the same message and they started cheering and pounding their steering wheels in celebration.
As Andrew's car couldn't move they brought the celebration to him. Andrew climbed out and started going crazy. Climbing down he got barreled by a black haired blur. They twirled around acting like a high school couple and then kissed in celebration not even caring about the photographs.
In Grimmjow's car, he was furious as another race was lost. 'You two are so dead I swear it.'
With Souske's anger at full blast what will happened to the Kurosaki team? Find out next time on Bleach Grand Prix.
Finish order: Germany
1. Andrew Michaels, Kurosaki, 37 points
2. Ichigo Kurosaki, Kurosaki, 35 points
3. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Souske, 35 points 14 laps
4. Ulquiorra Cifer, Souske 34 points 5 laps
5. Soi Fong, Kuchiki, 32 points
6. Rebecca Kirkland, Audi, 31 points
7. Michael Kennseth, Rousch, 30 points
8. Jason Webber, Red Bull, 29 points
9. Brian Mcnish, Audi, 28 points
10. George Schumacher, Ferrari 27 points
11. Patricia Stenhouse, Rousch, 26 points
12. Uryuu Ishida, Kurosaki, 25 points
13. Raoul Garcia, Audi, 24 points
14. Bjorn Kristensen, Audi, 23 points
15. Gin Ichimaru, Souske 22 points
16. Kira Izuru, Kuchiki, 21 points
17. Ralph Dillon, Hendrick, 20 points Out
18. Jason Vettal, Red Bull, 19 points Out
19. Renji Abarai, Kuchiki, 18 points Out
20. Dale Earnhardt, Hendrick, IV 17 points Out
21. Tier Harribel, Souske 16 points DNQ
22. Flippe Massa III, Red Bull, 15 points DNQ
23. Serenity Gordon, Hendrick, 14 points DNQ
24. Allen Regan, Rousch, 13 points DNQ
25. Archie Stewart, Stewart-Haas 12 points DNQ
26. Robert Johnson, Hendrick,11 points DNQ
27. Jessica Rosburg, Ferrari 10 points DNQ
28. Chad Yasotora, Kurosaki, 9 points DNQ
29. Michael Bush, Stewart-Haas, 8 points DNQ
30. Alexandra Edwards, Rousch, 7 points DNQ
31. Ralph Hamilton, Red Bull, 6 points DNQ
32. Shawn Newman, Stewart-Haas 5 points DNQ
33. Ikkaku Madarame, Kuchiki, 4 points DNQ
34. Francesca Alonso, Ferrari 3 points DNQ
35. Marcus Andretti, Stewart-Haas 2 points DNQ
36. Maria Robertson, Ferrari, 1 point DNQ
Points Standings: Germany
Drivers names
Team
Points
Ichigo Kurosaki
Kurosaki
460
Andrew Michaels
Kurosaki
454
Brian Mcnish
Audi
426
Serenity Gordon
Hendrick
401
Gin Ichimaru
Souske
380
Uryuu Ishida
Kurosaki
376
Archie Stewart
Stewart-Haas
375
George Schumacher
Ferrari
370
Chad Yasotora
Kurosaki
362
Ulquiorra Cifer
Souske
355
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez
Souske
348
Tier Harribel
Souske
343
Soi Fong
Kuchiki
337
Renji Abarai
Kuchiki
327
Patricia Stenhouse
Rousch
324
Ralph Dillon
Hendrick
317
Michael Kennseth
Rousch
307
Ralph Hamilton
Red Bull
306
Marcus Andretti
Stewart-Haas
291
Michael Busch
Stewart-Haas
284
Maria Robertson
Ferrari
280
Kira Izuru
Kuchiki
278
Flippe Massa III
Red Bull
269
Rebecca Kirkland
Audi
269
Fransesca Alonso
Ferrari
266
Ikkaku Mandarame
Kuchiki
266
Jessica Rosburg
Ferrari
266
Robert Johnson
Hendrick
266
Bjorn Kristensen
Audi
259
Jason Webber
Red Bull
258
Alexandra Edwards
Rousch
254
Jason Vettal
Red Bull
242
Dale Earnhardt IV
Hendrick
238
Raoul Garcia
Audi
236
Allen Regan
Rousch
215
Shawn Newman
Stewart-Haas
192
Team Names
Combined points
Kurosaki-Ishida
1652
Souske
1426
Hendrick
1222
Kuchiki
1208
Audi
1190
Ferrari
1182
Stewart-Haas
1142
Rousch
1100
Red Bull
1071
END of Chapter
UO: Wanted this out Sunday to celebrate the beginning of NASCAR season. Anyway hope you love the RWBY shout outs.
Special thanks toFredrcio de Seglio an F1 fan for the idea to use this circuit. Hope you enjoy it.
Preview: As the enter the final race before a month long break, Souske is through playing games. As the chess match continues, on track the cars are starving for action and so is the Hungary circuit. Who will have the momentum heading into the break? Find Out
Next time: Hungary for a Fight
. Next update is Journeys of the Dreamer.
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