Chapter 4: Start Your Engines

The road back to civilization was enough time for the pair to make sense of a series of instructions Calypso left on the dashboard. They were supposed to meet him at a specific location around a certain hour which meant very little free time in the outside world, though when one rolls through the streets in a heavily weaponized vehicle, there's bound to be some unwanted attention at some point. Connie was the first to note a suspicious looking unmarked car trailing behind them at about the same pace, likely keeping a good distance in case something happened.

"Vince? I think we have a problem on our hands.." She said, not taking her eyes off the side mirror next to her.

Their not-so-subtle follower made the same turns Vincent did in what he thought was a well enough effort to ditch them, after a while he became somewhat frustrated when it had little to no effect. Perhaps he could stop the car and see what this unknown driver wanted? No, something else. Maybe speeding up and running a light or two would make them back off? No, not that either. Surely there had to be a reasonable explanation fo-

And there it was, a sudden flash of red and blue to indicate the true purpose behind such persistent tailing.

Ah shit.

Vincent expected trouble in a different form and not the men in blue. At least now seems to be a good time to see if there was something that could get the cop off their tail considering how the interior is set up with an array of switches, dials, and buttons. A particular thing he saw was a directional pad that seemed to be built into a column on the steering wheel, some inputs didn't do anything at first until he pressed a random combination that lit up four indicators on the dashboard.

Nothing.

Well that was a-

A loud explosion rocked the police car behind them as it went up into flames, sending the chassis of the vehicle onto the oncoming lane where a minivan slammed into it head on as well as a few other cars that didn't get out of the way in time. The carnage that had occurred shook Vincent from how sudden it all was before realizing there was a small hole in the asphalt behind them, marked black by the blast that had taken place moments earlier.

This car has mines!? I thought I could scare him off or something, not KILL the poor cop who was only trying to do his job!

The contest was already causing Vincent quite a bit of grief and stress before it had even started, which is where Connie stepped in by placing a hand on his shoulder to help ease the anxiety. There wasn't much in the way of an excuse but she knew one thing that could help keep him steady.

"Vince. We agreed to go through all of this, and if crazy people from that asylum are joining too then it's better to do more good than harm by stopping them from possibly hurting innocent people no matter what, even if it's for a selfish reason that got us here in the first place." She paused to let the weight of her words sink in before the casual and relaxed tone had shone through.

"It's going to be okay, I'll still have your back even if things get worse from here on out."

The young man nodded in response, fighting off the gnawing regret he harbored deep inside whilst Connie leaned back into her seat and turned on the radio to help the two forget about what took place here. He couldn't help but think something was off about her reaction to this situation or that maybe he had too big a heart for this grueling stuff, whatever the case he focused his attention back to the road and drove on in silence.

The place where Calypso resided was a rather abandoned warehouse in the middle of a scrapyard that barely had much lighting in or outside the building, he sat atop a mountain of rusted cars that had seen better days either as a former participant of his games or perhaps a victim at one point or another. Regardless, the spotlight was on both him and his throne as he patiently waited for the last driver to arrive. His current state of thought reflected on how unusual to pick someone like those two considering how different yet similar they were, the biggest draw for doing so was their innocence and personalities which blended well together for an odd pair.

Hmm.. but will they survive?

That would have to be something he needed work on as things unfolded.

For now he had to settle for some ideas that were stowed away for the time being as a familiar looking muscle car revved through the entrance and spun itself into a stop just in front of him, the technique was poorly executed but the host knew this had been talent at an unrefined level. The driver pulled themselves out of the vehicle after shutting off the ignition, glancing around momentarily before focusing their gaze up towards Calypso.

"Hey! Where did everyone go if we all needed to meet here?" Vincent called out to him with an uncertain expression on his face, he wasn't a fan of the formless darkness just outside of what the overhead spotlight covered. It made it look like he was on a platform - or more precisely a plate - presented to all who had eyes on it.

With a smirk, the host covered in black only had to say one thing to change that statement.

"DRIVERS! START YOUR ENGINES!"

One by one, an array of different vehicles came to life with a resounding cry of mechanical rumbling that almost echoed throughout the building, several headlights beamed down towards the center where it created a blinding effect that was too hard for the newcomer to ignore. For Calypso, it was a glorious sight to behold. For Vincent, the fact that everyone was already here paired with such an abrupt revelation was fightening, so he tried to play it off as best as anyone in a situation like this could with a hand partially covering his eyes.

"I guess everyone likes showing up on time for a kill fest.."

It didn't help that he felt so exposed around so many other vehicles likely equipped with weapons that could end him in mere seconds, however, the young man knew there had to be some particular rules in place for when they could or couldn't use them. The same could be said for the mustang that was on loan for him to use, perhaps a secret built-in kill switch in case anyone had trouble controling whatever homocidal tendencies any of the competitors had.

Killer vehicles would definitely make it easy to mow down people, just like that-

"I'm glad you came Vincent, for a moment I thought I would have to find someone else, yet you pulled through and honored your agreement of participation." Calypso spoke with what looked like a smug look on his face, it was difficult to tell whether or not he was being condescending through his words.

"That aside, the car you're driving is known as Death Warrant. It will also be your callsign during the competition as well as a little hint for your opponents to learn more about you, though the opposite applies to any of the others here so I'm hoping you put that mind of yours to good use."

Death Warrant? What kind of name is that? It sounds cool at least..

"If everyone else has their own codenames then why haven't I been told them yet?"

"Given how you're a newcomer to this, I felt that it would be more appropriate to be... acquainted with your fellow contestants in a simple race through town."

"A race? I guess with this banged up car of yours, I think I can pull through the finish line just fine."

Calypso held up a hand, interrupting his fresh contestant with a parting statement. "Then I suppose I can give you a head start if you're feeling rather confident.. so long as you can handle everyone trying to tear both you and your friend apart."

There was something about Calypso's subtle behavior that started to get on Vincent's nerves, the way he seemed to manipulate the conversation with subdued malice was grating to say the least. A frown made itself apparent on his face as he glared at the TM host.

"Knowing what this is probably going to involve, you likely had bombs installed on all of our cars for whoever is unlucky enough to be stuck dead last. Am I right about that or what?" He didn't look like his reluctant self anymore, almost appearing irrate that the host put a target on his back for the first stage of the competition.

"Clever assumption indeed, it would be best to hurry along to the junkyard on the other side of town now. The clock is already ticking and there's only so much patience can do to keep your opposition at bay for the time being, unless you'd rather find out if your words prove you correct?"

Seeing that he has no option but to comply, Vincent pulled himself back into the mustang and started the engine before bringing the car around. He initiated a quick burnout until he finally shot out towards the exit. Not too long after, the rest of the contestants inside followed after him one by one and trailed off behind Death Warrant in the distance. Unbeknownst to anyone right then and there, Calpyso had an all too devious smile on his face when he was left to his own devices once again.

Everything was going according to plan.