Author's note:
I'm dropping a surprise to prove that this fanfic is gonna get the ball rolling. Enjoy!
Also on the previous chapter, the song 'Lose ya Love' is owned by Kill the Noise.
Cheers everybody,
-The Red Rockstar
CHAPTER (5)
"Truly Reckless"
They say that when you're visiting Rio no matter at what time of year, the city itself is always like endless summer. Summer heat, summer food, summer colors, summer storms, summer parties. It almost seemed like an endless holiday.
As the sun began to climb its natural apex, its rays showered down the various buildings, streets and city districts, revealing their true hues and brightening up any room with an open window. The roads were not too different either, as any driver who fails to account the sunshine would be blinded by its light, resulting in them having a hard time to drive.
One driver in particular, was cruising smoothly on a 3-lane bridge that acted as one of Rio's local highways. Her car was an eye catching, sapphire blue '69 Camaro SS that ran on gold drag rims and had a side exit exhaust built onto the sides of the car that poke out just before the rear wheels. And as it drove on, its driver made sure they were headed to their destination.
As Jewel pulled the into 4th gear, she made sure that her car was still performing well. Even though she had carefully built it to withstand pressure from getting into shenanigans like highway racing with Nico and Pedro, she still liked to make sure her ride was in good condition.
However, once she was assured, she noticed that there were not many cars around this time of day. And with the sound of growling of her Camaro's V8 to keep her company, Jewel began to drift into her own thoughts.
For some strange reason, she had a hard time sleeping last night. This resulted in her to wake up late this morning and it was incredible that she didn't move like a withering zombie.
But the she-Spix still felt a little tense.
She saw something in her dreams that she still had a hard time to process.
And now that she had a chance to think and reflect, she called up her memory again.
It was cold…
The atmosphere felt a little colder, too cold for Rio de Janeiro standards. And she found herself on a balcony gazing at an astonishing view of a city that was greeted by a brilliant sunset.
She seemed younger than expected. And she seemed sweeter, like most young girls back then. Plus, she wore a dress that was more suited for autumn weather.
She seemed to be explaining something to someone, whilst gazing at the view ahead of her.
"Driving is… It's freedom and not having to rely on anyone." Her words echoed a little as she broke the silence.
However, a quiet shadow of a figure stood next to her. He almost seemed barely noticeable to her conscious, and somehow emitted a gentle aura from his posture. And when he spoke, his words felt clear.
And as he spoke, the faint hint of his unclear and unsettled nature was there in his tone.
"I don't know… Sounds a little lonely."
Back to reality…
Jewel shook her head a little as she snapped into realization.
That view of the city wasn't Rio. The atmosphere was about to enter the last days of autumn.
And that unsettled voice… she knew undoubtedly to whom it belonged to.
A strange chill ran up her spine as she thought about it.
"Keep your cool, girl. Keep your cool,"she said to herself, calmly.
There was no reason for her to contemplate on she could've done back then. And no reason to worry about the future either. But getting Sonny back home safe was her main primary goal for the time being. And that was what she was going to do.
Henceforth, Jewel dropped a gear and turned left to take a highway exit ramp that would lead her to a more local part of the city.
A little later…
Somewhere in Rio, there was a residential district that consisted of many apartment buildings, smaller shops and other businesses and the usual convenient streets. And on one of said streets was where Jewel had parked her car, on a parking space next to a short sidewalk. She looked around only to find not much of any activity, people passed by on both foot and on casual city vehicles.
Jewel took no notice and began to walk ahead until she would reach one end of the street, where there was small intersection. She then turned left, and carried on her stroll.
She wore a white button up shirt with dark blue checkers and had its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a pair of black jeans and white sneakers. Plus, she had her feathery hair down to make sure that she wouldn't attract any unnecessary attention. She walked in a quiet manner with her hands in her pockets and briefly sped up a little if she had to cross a street.
At last Jewel made her way to her destination. It was an apartment building similar to the others nearby, with a green exterior, and simple windows with a white frame.
But there was one thing that seemed out of place, there was a cop car that sat together outside its front door. Meaning that something unpleasant had happened in there. It was something that Jewel had been keeping an eye out for.
However, to Jewel, something else seemed off. The police car had their sirens and lights turned off, and from what she was perceiving, nobody sat inside. Nobody stood around gazing and gawking at the scene, no reporters buzzing about, and also people casually passed by, minding their own business.
"Odd," murmured Jewel as she stood on the spot. She then picked up her smartphone and punched in a number. With a few seconds in, her call was picked up.
"Hello?"
"Anna, I'm at the scene."
"Perfect," replied Anna, in her usual business-like tone. "Wait there, I'm almost downstairs to open the door."
"Alright then," said Jewel as she disconnected. Something strange had happened. Even if everything seemed fine for the ordinary joe, something told her that she would need to keep a low profile if it meant finding Sonny. Perhaps it was also one reason why Anna was making her way downstairs to let Jewel in the building instead of telling which buzzer to press for anyone to let her in, to prevent a potential arise in suspicion.
Anna opened the door in a quick matter of time. She wore a white business button-up shirt tucked into black slacks to complete her serious outfit, with an ID card hanging from a thick string around her neck. "You came at the right time," said the scarlet to the spix. "The boys at the investigation unit won't be back until this afternoon."
"Then we got more than enough time to take a good look at the place," replied Jewel confidently, as she began to follow Anna into the building.
As she entered the cool of the building's interior, she got the impression that this apartment building housed many citizens of the middle-class. The walls had been painted a pale grey and the floor tiles seemed to be properly scrubbed. She and Anna had to go through a lengthy hallway full of circuit breakers before they can get to the elevator at the far wall, with the flight of stairs standing to its left.
Luckily the elevator was already at ground floor, hence Anna pressed the entry button to let herself and Jewel in. And once they were in, the pair got to talking.
"You alright?" Greeted Anna.
"Not bad," said Jewel returning the gesture. "You?"
"I'm fine, even after driving at over the speed limit yesterday," said Anna, her response made Jewel try not to grin too much.
"The crime scene is at the fifth floor, the entire place was a mess when we first came in," said Anna as she pressed another button within the elevator.
"A mess?" Quizzed Jewel with a raised brow. "Aren't all crime scenes in a mess?"
"'Mess' is a bit of an understatement when it comes to this one. It's as if a giant dust bunny animated itself and terrorized both the apartment and it's the people inside."
"The people inside?"
"Yes," agreed Anna. "There were three rottweiler brothers lived in that apartment. All college dropouts. All had been knocked out cold by someone who sneaked into their apartment."
"Who would want to sneak into their apartment?"
"Not sure," said Anna concerned. "But I think you should see this for yourself."
Ding! The elevator had reached to their desired floor. And once the pair stepped out of it, Jewel looked ahead to see they were in yet another hallway where all the oakwood doors of the apartments were shut tight.
All except for the one at the far end.
This door in particular was only opened halfway, and was guarded by two bored medtechs, one of whom had his hat covering his eyes and was nearly half asleep.
Jewel gulped whilst she steeled herself as she and Anna walked over to the door. Her senses warned her to be vigilant as the echoes of constant silence hung in the air like mist, proving the likely absence of any people. She then pushed the door aside with the back of her fist so as to not leave any fingerprints.
Her eyes widened as she scanned the room.
The apartment was painted in pale lavender, with oakwood brown floor tiles. On the right wall stood a couch for two people and a small tv set with a window just above it. On the left wall sat a small wooden cabinet, that was barely left opened, and a round table with three chairs stood after the cabinet. And next to the table on the far-left corner was a small kitchen with a small stove and a bunch of cupboards next to the stove and one more on the wall. And on the far right, there was a narrow hallway that might lead to the bedrooms.
However, as the morning light entered through the window, the entire room had lit up, revealing that dusty boxes had conquered the entire place. They had taken over the little coffee table in front of the couch, the small space near the tv set, on top of the cabinet, on top of the fridge and under the round table. And most of all, there was a large stack of boxes that sat behind the couch, which made itself into a mountain that occupied the middle of the room.
"What the heck?" Murmured Jewel as she looked around. A strange and unfamiliar scent entered her nostrils as she slowly walked around. "What is all this?"
"These," declared Anna, "are stolen goods taken from all over the city. Most of them are just tools and machine parts. But there were some goods here that were not meant to be owned by regular people."
"Like what?" quizzed Jewel.
"Guns, blades, and a few packages of narcotics were also acquired by those rottweilers. They've been sent back to the station for examination. But the rest are still here.
"Jose had sent a warning to dispatch back at the police station," said Anna. "Apparently the guy he was trying to chase had led him on a wild goose chase right into this apartment."
"How so?"
"That kid thought it'd be good idea to arrest a driver going over the speed limit," said Anna, as her face turned from a stern to a neutral expression. "Apparently, he picked the wrong person to chase, considering Jose gave pursuit to that driver across a few rooftops before he led him into this apartment and back again."
Jewel blinked, as she was certainly taken aback from the scarlet macaw's statement. Parkouring across rooftops was no doubt a dangerous sport, let alone hunting runners to arrest at night. Jose had been lucky to pull off a sketchy act.
"I can imagine the lecture he's gonna get from the higher-ups from the police force," grinned Jewel in a monotone voice as she looked back at Anna. "Though I don't think I should blame him."
"Why is that?" Anna raised a brow.
"Because I used to do things like that back when I was a rookie."
Anna smiled as she recalled some of her memories. "That's true… But even so at least its lead both of you to something."
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps began to make themselves clear, making the spix macaw to heighten her senses. It was coming from the direction of the hallway. Jewel's eyes turned to slits as she thought about revealing and utilizing the tranquilizer gun from her hip, just in case.
However, the urge to do so had been suppressed as she heard a familiar voice call out. "Anna? Is that you?"
Emerging from the dark of the narrow hallway was another macaw, but of green feathers. He had an athletic build and was a few centimeters shorter than Jewel. He wore a black tee, a pair of white jeans and of course a new element to his outfit, combat boots. His green feathery hair was cut down to a buzzcut and had a pair of alert eyes like Jewel.
He was about to continue on when his eyes landed on the spix the moment he walked out of the hallway, and was a little shocked to see her. Yet nevertheless, he conversed with her politely. "Jewel? You're back! Good to see you again." He welcomed her warmly.
"Same here, Jose," replied Jewel, returning the gesture. "I hear that you've found a…"
She looked around the room, trying to find a suitable word to describe the current situation.
"Rightful mess."
"Yeah," agreed Jose, with a slight hint of meekness emitting from his voice. "The commissioner and the other higherups weren't too excited about how I found it… but they did say I did find something pretty useful. I think…"
"We've all been here," nodded Jewel as a means of reassurance.
"So… What brings you here then?"
"She's here on my account," answered Anna in her business tone, as usual. "There's something here that I think Jewel might recognize."
"Out of all this mess?" Quizzed Jose, puzzled as he looked around at the dire state of the room. "Alright then."
"When's Sophia coming?" Added the scarlet.
There was a brief knock on the door. Anna turned around and opened it where a gold macaw of average height and wore a casual hoodie and jeans stood waiting, and like the others, her ID card hung on her neck by a thick string.
"We've just got information about the narcotics and weapons," said Sophia, stepping inside.
"Apparently, the dogs who lived in this apartment were given a deal from some shifty trader, where they get to hide his goodies here for a pretty handsome payment. The more they hid, the bigger their income… They even gave a name. Some guy from outside the city."
"Alright," agreed Anna. "What's the catch then?"
"Well, that's it," finished Sophia. "All they did was give us a name from someone who lives outside the city. Other than the fact that they've been doing this for over four months, and the last month was when their pay was almost doubled for getting more stuff in. We did question some of the other residents here but nothing useful turned up."
"Other than the fact that they seemed like a decent bunch but didn't seem to pose as much of a threat," added Anna.
"So, no trace on from where they were moving such stock like this," added Jewel.
That meant the only new lead they had was the rottweiler brothers' boss. Usually in the detective business there were some cases where they would only lead them to nothing but a fading trail that seemed like the end of the road. A lot of patience was required if that meant finding the needed explanation. Luckily this was something she was used to. And on the plus side there was one more lead left.
"Yeah," replied Sophia to the scarlet. "Oh, and hello Jewel."
"Hey kiddo." The spix then turned to Anna. "Well, now that we got an idea of what we're up against, why don't we open these boxes? Do we have clearance to look at such evidence?"
"Of course." Agreed Jose.
Jewel and Jose got themselves a pair of blue latex gloves and began to take a few couple of boxes from atop of the mini mountain behind the sofa. Placing them on the floor, they began to open them one by one to see what was inside.
"So, what happened while I was gone?" Asked Jewel as she placed a box the size of a small cushion on the floor.
"Not much really," said Jose. "Just a few cases but nothing special. Cases more like this actually."
"Yeah," said Sophia ready with her camera that she got from a vending machine. "Last night a few of us showed up here to investigate when Jose filed a report about this place. We sent a search party to find those rottweilers to wake up from tranquilizer darts. From the way they casually moved into the station you'd think they had a good night's sleep." She then turned to the military macaw and jested. "Right Jose?"
"Hey, I went on a late-night shift with you on the night before," he retorted with a flat look. "We all know what happened there."
Jewel chuckled as she kneeled down and opened her box.
Her eyes widened at what she discovered.
"Piston rings?" She murmured in confusion.
"What's wrong?" said Anna. Jewel turned he box to show Anna what she had found.
Inside sat numerous packs displaying metal rings. Each pack contained a few rings that looked different in density rather than size.
"I got something," Jose blurted out who sat in front of them. He pulled out a strange piece of metal out of his box that was long and didn't seem any closer to ordinary.
"Is that a spine?" Said Sophia who looked confused just as much as he was.
"I dunno," replied Jose. "I don't even want to know what whoever manufactured this was drinking when he got the idea to make this."
Jewel, however recognized it immediately. "A crankshaft?!" As her thoughts read themselves aloud in her mind. Her wide eyes looked over to the round table and found more boxes from underneath them. Grabbing two of them, she quickly opened it to discover the items inside were…
"Spark plugs and an alternator."
"Do you know these things?" Said the scarlet.
"Yeah," said Jewel, as she glared at her discovery. Though she looked like she was doing fine, underneath, she was rather bewildered to see such things in here out of all places.
"These are car parts," answered the spix macaw.
For the next hour, the avians began their search through the many boxes. Almost all of them contained similar and various parts that belonged to cars. Some were just nuts and bolts, others were a set of sport suspensions, new ECU's and brake calipers, etc. They had also come across a few odd items such as a piece of rope and various tools, but overall, they were able to go through all boxes. Jewel even took the liberty of writing down their findings.
Even so, they were still unable to get the main gist of it.
"Their car parts, no doubt," said Jewel as she walked out of the hallway, she had just finished inspecting the boxes in the bedrooms. "The question is why the heck are they so secretive about hiding theme."
"Maybe they're already stolen?" Suggested Sophia, who stood with the others near the table.
"Hmm, it's a possibility," said Anna as she thought carefully. "Maybe whoever wanted the stuff hidden wanted to make a quick buck out of them."
"Maybe," clarified Jewel. "But given how much dust has actually settled here, it seems that whoever wanted these hidden hasn't found a buyer." Another thought appeared in her head. "Or maybe they had other ideas…"
"Huh," said Anna. "There's nothing much else to think up of other than to wild guesses."
Jose stood rather quiet for a moment, swam in his thoughts before he came up with his idea. "Could this be related to Madison Grids?"
Everyone's eyes landed right at Jose's direction.
"I mean, think about it," explained Jose. "These are car parts designed for cheap cars for entry level drivers. There's no way anybody would pass the opportunity to get their hands on them."
"I think you're going somewhere with this," agreed Jewel. However, in her thoughts she tried to put the picture together. "No, it still doesn't connect to why someone would break into a storage room occupied by people and beat them to a pulp. With all the work done so sloppy to the point Jose would sniff out his trail. Not to mention leaving these boxes unopened."
"Maybe they are rivals?" Questioned Sophia.
"And there's another thing. The guy I chased after." Jose turned to the golden macaw with a raised brow. "You were there when it happened Sophia. What kind of car was it?"
Sophia stood for a few seconds before she could reply. "I'm not sure."
"Now we're getting somewhere," thought Jewel in confidence. "Okay," she added in agreement in a slow and subtle fashion.
"I clearly remember that the car he drove was definitely a sportscar," said Sophia as she racked her brains. "However, I keep forgetting its actual name. Luckily, I did catch its license plate. Turns out it belonged to a real estate company in our city."
Jewel thought once more before she finally moved to a conclusion. "Well… this certainly has opened up a few more leads. Hopefully this should give us a good start."
Sophia smiled. "Oh yes." And she turned around to the table to check through a manilla file, with Jose.
Jewel knew this should buy one step closer to finding her brother Sonny. And noticing that Anna was standing the closest to her, the spix macaw leaned over to the scarlet and whispered.
"Do you think that this place could be Sonny's storage apartment?"
"Probably," Anna whispered back. "But I don't think he would be willing to pay three nasty looking dogs to guard it."
"You're right… By the way, does Jose know why I'm here?"
"No. But he knows that Sonny had gone missing. And he knows about the rat in our ranks."
Suddenly Sophia came to them with the folder. "Here's a copy of the information we took about the car and about the crime scene here."
"Thank you," said Jewel as she took the folder gently and began to read carefully.
"Also on the last page, Jose was able to make out a composite sketch about the rogue that we found the other night," said Sophia.
A composite sketch was a sketch used by detectives in order to identify criminals when there are no pictures or videos taken in order to identify suspects, giving a somewhat advantage on what to look for when finding them, theoretically. This was an effective technique that even Jewel had used back a few times when she used to work for the police force.
"Alright," replied Jewel as she flipped to the last page. "Let's see who's the one who tipped us off for this crime scene-"
The shivering chill in her spine returned, even more so than before. And the pupils in her eyes shrunk twice its own size.
At the last page, the face of the suspect stared back at her. Or rather what seems to be the suspects face. It was a pale white mask that resembled to that of an avian. Its eyes were like black empty voids and seemed quite large. And his mouth was made up of many black vertical lines that shaped itself into an ominous smile, kind of like sharp teeth.
And the worse part was that his mask didn't just resemble to any avian. It resembled to a macaw.
It all felt familiar.
"Jewel?" Asked a worried Sophia, who noticed the chill that was faintly visible from the spix's facial expression. "Do you… know this guy? Tall height, athletic build, wears dark colors?"
"I don't think so…" An internally shocked Jewel replied. "Maybe. But I'm not sure."
She was all too familiar with it, even though she probably didn't know who would were such a mask.
"For a guy who's got a sense of theatrics, he seems like he can get away from anything," said Jose, who still felt a bit disturbed, given that he hadn't seen the composite sketch for a few hours now.
"He certainly looks creepy," agreed Anna as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah… but there is no evidence of him stealing anything," said Sophia.
Jewel who had regained composure tried to participate in the conversation, hoping to make sure no one else had seen her reaction. "Or maybe he's trying to get our attention."
However, a certain thought crossed Jewel's mind. One that was incredibly interesting. She cradled it in her mind as she connected a few dots and added a few things here and there. And before long Jewel now had an interesting hypothesis ready and waiting.
Anna being the oldest in the room had experienced firsthand of what people in the detective business did when they were able to form a solid answer. The kind of answer that seemed clear moments before they make pursuit of the suspect. And Jewel must have built up a very solid answer.
She had also seen the reaction Jewel gave off when she had seen the composite sketch. She was pretty sure that the she-spix macaw might've actually recognized him.
"Jose," called Jewel, making the military macaw turn to her. "Was the computer in the bedroom turned on when you brought the other cops in here?"
"Yeah," he replied confused. "Why did you ask?"
"I'm thinking he must've taken a piece of data from the computer, like a picture or a message perhaps. Otherwise, he wouldn't risk his own life to break in here, steal and draw our attention at the same time."
The other avians looked at each other, exchanging glances. They now realized the point Jewel had passed across.
"What are you suggesting then?" Quizzed Sophia.
But before Jewel could answer, her phone rang furiously. She rolled her eyes as she produced her phone from her pocket and checked her caller. However, the caller ID was stated to be 'Unknown', making Jewel hesitate for a minute before picking it up.
"Hello?"
"Jewel? That you?" Blurted out an uncanny voice. "It's Pedro!"
"Pedro?" Said Jewel as she turned around, making sure anyone else in the room didn't hear her conversation. "Didn't expect you to call out at a time like this."
"Yeah," said Pedro on the other end. "Crazy right?"
"How did you get my number?" Said Jewel, "Last time I checked, Nico's the one who gave me your business card."
"Got it from a friend. Listen girl, we just met someone real funny back at a Grids event and we're trying to tail him on car."
Now that he mentioned it, the sound of a grumbling engine was audible through her phone.
"Isn't it illegal to drive while talking on the phone?" Warned the blue she-spix.
"Huh, I guess that would potentially get me on the wanted list, wouldn't it?"
"Gimme that!" Snapped another voice as the sound Pedro's phone being seized with a grunt almost made her laugh.
"Jewel, it's me, Nico," said the yellow canary. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. What's going on? Are you two alright?"
"About that," he replied. "Recently we got into this Grids Event with some other friends and we found someone driving Sonny's car!"
"Sonny's car?" Said Jewel as she began to feel the tension in his voice.
"A Toyota GT86."
Then it hit her.
Yesterday
"Hmm Sonny did have a car to modify to get into Madison Grids, a GT86 I believe," said Anna. "But even that went missing. Maybe he borrowed money when he built his car and sneaked out while no one was looking to find a way to pay it back properly."
Present time
Jewel went speechless for a bit.
There are a couple of cars that are of the same model around Rio. However, not all driver's cars would look the same. And it was possible that both Pedro and Nico might be bluffing, but then again Nico was the one to give her their phone numbers – not the other way around.
Then the pieces began to fall into place.
She made a mental map in her mind, setting every variable to its place and began to survey her current situation. The conclusion seemed obvious.
All she needed was one more piece before she could finally finish the puzzle.
"You say someone's hijacked his car? Where are you?" She questioned urgently.
"We're somewhere near the local dragstrip," replied Nico. "Heading towards-"
But before Nico could finish, the sound of something crashing and clattering on the floor could be heard, followed by the roar of an engine.
"What's going on?" Said Jewel.
"Uhh. We may a little problem on our hands," replied a stammering Nico. "We'll let you know if anything else happens!"
"Nico, wait."
But it was too late, Nico had hung up.
A moment later Anna walked up to her concerned.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Pedro and Nico. I think they might be in trouble," Jewel replied. In an instant Anna address to the other two avians in the room.
"You two go back to the station and see what else needs doing. Me and Jewel are needed elsewhere."
"What happened?" Quizzed Sophia.
"We believe we've located Sonny's car," said Anna. "But it's gonna take a while. We'll see you both later."
A moment later Jewel opened the door and headed for the elevator, with Anna following suite.
"What did they say to you?" Said the scarlet to the spix.
"They were both tailing someone who's driving Sonny's car somewhere near the dragstrip," replied Jewel.
"So, we better get moving, the sooner we find them, the sooner we find our friend," exclaimed Anna.
"Then you better hold on tight for this one."
Meanwhile…
They had just entered into the city and were now stopped by a red light at an intersection. And as if it could not get any better, he now sat right behind Sonny's car.
Ricardo sat idling in his orange Mustang gripping his steering wheel with one hand and had the other on the gear knob. His gaze was fixed on the black Toyota GT86 in front of him, as they were both up against the red light waiting for it to turn green. His senses had also been heightened since he was now tailing behind the car directly in front of him.
He knew it was not a good idea from the start. But his father hadn't picked up his calls. And he wasn't sure how he was going to report this to the police. Luckily however, Pedro and Nico made a suggestion to call a certain someone he hadn't heard of in a good while.
He then recalled the moment he first made a light conversation with the driver.
A while ago…
"Hey man. Nice car." Said the young toucan as he stood a few feet away from the driver's-side door of the car. Sitting inside it was a peculiar red fox with a black baseball cap and dirty overalls. From what Rico perceived, he didn't look like he was from around here.
"Oh, thanks." Replied the fox. Judging by his strong accent, he sounded like an American. His eyes then darted back to his phone.
"Cool," said Rico. "I like the Varis body kit on that. Did you build it yourself?"
"Yeah, from the engine to the body panels, I put this baby from the ground up." The fox was now looking over at Rico, he seemed quite full of himself.
"Huh, that's funny though." Ricardo began to walk a bit closer to the car. He made sure not to stand to close, otherwise he might seem too hostile. Peering inside, the interior was modified just as it was on the outside. A removable steering wheel, racing seats with harnesses, a large lever that acted as a hand brake and a gold gearshift.
"An old friend of mine had the exact same car as you," said Rico. "I was there when he built it… Aftermarket seats, drift handbrake, quick-release steering wheel. And a gold gearshift exactly just like that." He pointed at the thing.
"Huh, must be a nice car." Replied the fox as he went back to his phone, as if he didn't care.
"He's called Sonny… You know him?" Said the toucan in a flat tone. This made the fox's ears go up and his eyes widen as he heard the name.
"Nah." Was all he could say.
"Alright, then," said the young toucan. "See you around." And with that Rico walked away from the car. He pace slow, and his hands in his pockets.
However, the guy he was talking to also began to drive his car away.
As if he didn't want any unnecessary attention.
He then came over to an avian with a certain blue plumage. "You saw that?"
"Yeah," replied Blossom. "He doesn't look convincing. Not one bit."
Present time
A white Nissan Silvia S15 rolled up alongside Ricardo's orange Mustang. Sitting in the driver's seat was a young blue spix who was around the same age as him, with wide amber eyes looking over at him concerned.
"You sure about this?" Quizzed Blossom.
"Yeah." He said as he exchanged glances with her. "But I'm not sure where he's gonna lead us."
"Then it's simple. If he leads us to somewhere sketchy, we bail out immediately. And then we'll get the professionals to sniff out the place."
"Okay then. Let's hope we don't stick too close to him or-"
Then it happened.
At one moment everything seemed fine. And in the next, Pedro's Land Rover had accidentally drove into an empty trash can, it clattered loudly as it toppled onto the ground.
At that moment, the light turned green and the black GT86 then accelerated away turning right, screeching as it went.
"Well, there goes our cover," said Blossom with a flat expression.
Immediately, Ricardo set his car into first gear and launched his Mustang, determined to chase down his own suspect, with Blossom's Silvia S15 following suite.
As they made a right turn again Pedro's red Land Rover appeared and swung itself to turn, its tires trying to grip the road. Inside Pedro was thrashing around with the steering wheel trying to set his car straight whilst Nico had put on his seatbelt and looked like he was hanging on for dear life.
The red cardinal remembered that Rico had given them a walkie-talkie so they can talk to each other while driving. Once he set his pickup into third gear, he grabbed a black phone looking device with an antenna and hollered at it.
"How the heck did he know we were tailing him?"
Blossom: That's because you two ran into the bin and he got spooked.
"Can't he just pretend that we did that by accident? Because that's literally what happened!"
Meanwhile, Rico, who was leading the pack grabbed his own walkie replied back to Pedro's protest. "That's what he could've done! The only reason why he's going at that speed is because he knows that that car probably belonged to someone else. And we are onto him."
"Then we better find out what he's up to!" said Blossom to the rest, as she shifted into fourth gear and floored the gas on her Silvia.
There did not seem to be much of any traffic at this particular time of the day. But that gave the fox driver a chance to floor it and get away with Sonny's car. And as Rico and the rest of the gang hurried behind him, the people, buildings and other cars began to pass them by in a quick flash.
The chances of getting into trouble are high. If they run into a cop, all of them might be under the police's radar. If they run into allies of their suspect, things might get ugly for them. And worse, if they get into an accident or run over a pedestrian… Rico didn't want to fathom about it. He wasn't sure if the others might think about the consequences. On the other hand, they might actually turn up something useful. But being someone who wasn't used to this type of action, Rico was under malaise when he felt like trying to get into contact with someone who can actually help them.
So, they pressed on in pursuit of the black GT86.
Luckily, in the heat of the moment, their suspect turned to a sharp right turn, into a narrow street. One that didn't have many people or cars around. Ricardo braked hard in his car, dropping down to second gear and made his rear wheels lose grip. With a grunt, he yanked his handbrake, and swung his orange Mustang into a handbrake drift as its front now aimed at the new direction. He then understood his suspect's real motives.
"He's trying to get out of the city!" He exclaimed in realization into his walkie-talkie.
Behind him, Blossom swung her Silvia, turning right to follow his Mustang. "Then we better not lose it," replied its driver.
Behind her, a big Land Rover was going all over the place as if a child was driving it. Nico was having none of the fun, "We better! I'm about to faint here!"
The road they were on led to an open highway with fewer cars, this gave the fox in the stolen car a chance to finally go all out. Little did he know, his pursuers were not out of ideas.
All of a sudden, Ricardo began to go all out as well. He started flooring his Mustang to where he was closing the distance between him and the stolen GT86.
"Rico, what are you doing?" Called out Blossom.
Rico: I gonna catch up to him. I got more torque than he does.
Pedro: Don't crash yourself, bird!
"Even if you've got more power, how are you gonna stop him?" Retorted Blossom, shifting into third.
But the young toucan didn't listen. With a coyote V8 roaring under the hood, he felt unstoppable as his Mustang began to come closer and closer to the GT86. However, the fox had noticed this and made a plan. "Oh no you don't," he said in a cunning voice as he then turned left at the crossroads ahead.
Onto a road that led to the mountains.
Rico braked hard again to follow the fox, as he turned his steering wheel to the left. But his Mustang had come in so fast he nearly lost his grip. This gave Blossom a chance to overtake him, as she neatly drifted her Silvia and took the lead.
"Never play an ace at the start of the game, Ricky," said Blossom with sass in her voice.
She was right, Mustang GTs were excellent sportscars of the modern age, with loads of customization and tuning available for whether it be ripping up racetracks or making smooth drifts through corners.
"He must've known my car was mostly built for grip and straight-line speed," thought Rico. "Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up through the straights on the hills."
Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.
As they traversed the ascending road, their path was beginning to get narrower, and more turns began to reveal themselves. The corners, hairpins and chicanes were making it harder for the young toucan to keep up with the others. And worst of all, he was not used to linking through the corners to get the maximum speed achievable. However…
Coming out of a corner was the stolen GT86, followed by a Blossom's Nissan Silvia S15, taking the lead in its own pack. "I'm almost getting close!" Called out the teenage blue spix. One thing common between the two cars is they were lighter, therefore more agile. And they were modified to battle corners more quickly.
Plus, Blossom was more experienced than Ricardo for when it comes to driving. Despite driving a slower car, she was able to tune in tandem with it, knowing when to brake, when to accelerate, which gear to use and how to take the fastest racing line through corners. Such techniques helped her in catching up with other faster cars and actually overtake them.
"Ricardo, where you at?" She hollered as she swung her car at the entry of a left-hand turn, as she dropped to second gear and gently controlled her car to a point where it gripped the road and stormed out of the turn right after the stolen car. She didn't even need to turn her steering wheel much.
"I'm still trying to catch up, hang on!" He replied as tried his best to keep up.
Meanwhile in the red Land Rover, Pedro and Nico were still unable to find a perfect overtaking opportunity. Up ahead, there was another left corner, a lot sharper than the last one, and here on the right there was a steep embankment that contained nothing more than grass, bushes and shrubs, acting as a barrier to prevent cars from flying of the road. Pedro, being the driver, noticed this and had a reckless idea. "I got an idea, Nico. Watch this." He said to the canary.
Nico replied with his eyes as wide as dinner plates, "What? Oh no. Don't you dare-"
It was too late.
When the other cars ahead of them braked to slow down, Pedro did the opposite and floored the gas. His pickup ran up the embankment, and drove over the greenery with leaves and blades of grass flying in the air. And at the end of the corner Pedro drove his pickup off the embankment and onto the road again, successfully overtaking every car – including the stolen GT86.
"Dammit!" Blurted Nico as he looked like his whole life flashed before him in seconds. There was a high chance that their ride would topple over and crash from driving too far up the embankment.
"Sorry bro! But it's my turn to steal the spotlight," Pedro laughed back at him as he picked up his walkie talkie. "You saw that, Rico?"
Rico: Yeah, nice work! Now try to slow this guy down!
"Yes, please! The sooner it ends the better!" Groaned Nico, he then looked ahead and saw what actually awaited them.
Unfortunately, their victory was short lived when their red pickup came too fast at an upcoming hairpin.
"Watch out!" Warned the canary, but it was too late. Both avians in the Land Rover Defender 110 exchanged yells of shock as they crashed through the guardrail and drove down the mountain like a landslide.
"Rico!" Said Blossom in surprise. "Your boys just drove of the side of the mountain!"
"What?!" Exclaimed Rico, shocked to hear what she said through his walkie talkie. "Pedro! Nico! Come in!"
Pedro: We're fine! Managed to stay on all four wheels. Meet you at the bottom!
Blossom sighed. At least they both should return in one piece. Hence, she decided to focus on chasing for the time being.
They came through a gentle righthand turn, and as they did, Blossom carefully maintained her throttle inputs to get out of the corner as fast as possible. Her Silvia S15 responded and maintained its distance from the stolen GT86.
Ahead of them there was a fork in the road. The road on the right led to a small bridge that continued through the mountain, the other was a short pass that led to the bottom.
The fox in the black Toyota GT86 saw this opportunity. "Perfect! The kid in the Mustang is struggling to catch me. So, I'll take the bridge, then I'll only have the Silvia to deal with, and lose her through here." He thought to himself. "I'll soon be at the hideout before-"
The sound of a Japanese inline-6 motor roared in his ears.
He looked to his right and found the Silvia S15 had its front end ahead of its own car. The blue spix was now able to block his path to the bridge. "How the heck!?" Snapped the fox. A moment ago, she was behind him and now she was about to overtake him?
He didn't want to try and push his way to the bridge, given that Blossom's car was heavier than his. And since he didn't want to take any other risky moves, he took the other road, and the GT86 took a fierce left turn, heading down the mountain.
Blossom let him take the lead and followed in after him. They then attacked a gentle left-hand turn. But under the sound of screeching tires, Blossom checked her rearview mirror and saw a glimpse of orange. It was Rico's mustang, and his car was drifting too wildly to maintain control, let alone catch up.
"Rico! Be careful, you're coming in too hot!" She said to him.
Ricardo: I'm trying! But I've built my car for straights, not for sharp corners!
The young toucan was becoming more frantic. The rear right wheel of his car was outside of the asphalt and was starting to kick up grass. He gripped his steering wheel as a look of horror cemented on his face as his inexperience began to catch up. He thought, "What do I do? Should I let of the throttle? No, I might lose steering all together and crash. But the same might happen even if I might floor it!"
He looked ahead to see Blossom's Silvia gripping the road ferociously. Then it hit him.
Who the heck was he kidding?
He was a driver, for crying out loud.
The reason why he signed up was because he wanted the thrill of going fast for so freaking long.
If he wasn't expecting things like this, then there was no purpose being a driver.
Adrenaline began to finally flow through him. He then eased his grip on his steering when and let off the gas, his wheels found their grip, and the Mustang GT began stabilize, leaving the turn safely.
"Forget about drifting. I'll just focus on maintaining a constant speed throughout turns and check their car's taillights to find braking points. That way I can catchup."
The young toucan steeled his focus, and began to put his strategy to the test. After taking a few more turns, he noticed that he was beginning to close the distance.
"Blossom, I'm catching up!" His reply came in through the walkie talkie.
Blossom: Atta' boy, Ricky!
They were beginning to reach the bottom of the mountain, where bushes and trees grew on either side of the road when suddenly ahead of them Pedro's Land Rover burst through the trees whilst flying over 10 feet above the ground. With a growl of its engine, it landed alongside the GT86.
Pedro: Guess who's baaack~
Rico tried not to chuckle, as the red pickup was covered in leaves and mud, and he was pretty sure he saw a large branch sticking out of the truck-bed.
Luckily, the road took a sharp right into a T intersection of a public road. The GT86, being on the inside line swung itself and turned right on the intersection. Rico then floored his car all the way to drive alongside Blossom while Pedro began to drive his pickup out of the turn to off road and back again.
With the Mustang GT on the right, the Silvia S15 on the left and the Defender 110 up behind them, they looked like the finest crew of drivers in all of Brazil.
However, the GT86 had taken a noticeable distance ahead of them, and its foxy driver was already making his plan to lose them.
And he didn't need to wait any longer.
Ahead of them of all things was a small railroad crossing. Cars on either side, were motionless as they were halted by barriers that prevented them from crossing, because whenever the yellow lights flashed, it indicated that a train was coming.
And one was on its way right now.
While the crew contemplated on whether he would stop, they got their answer when he floored the gas and headed straight for the crossing. With noise emanating viciously from its exhaust, the fox steeled his nerves and drove his car under the metal guards that were about to drop, preventing anyone from getting past, and made it to the other side.
"Crap!" Said Rico as he and the others slammed on their brakes and dropped gears before coming to a full stop.
A freight train went through the crossing, with a large blue diesel engine at the front hauling a long line of trucks with goods in them.
If they tried to cross at that moment, a horrifying accident would have occurred.
"That was close," said the toucan as he straightened his bandanna. His windows had been rolled down as a spix macaw with a bow in her hair, drove her car alongside him.
"You alright, Ricky?"
"Yeah… Just peachy."
Nico who had regained his composure took the walkie talkie from Pedro in their pickup and spoke.
Nico: This just became serious. That guy's obviously trying to hide something. And hide it really badly.
"He just stole Sonny's car. With all the goodies he built into that car, there's no way anyone would not want their hands on it," replied Rico.
"Do you think something bad happened to Sonny?" Blossom questioned softly.
"Most likely," said Rico. "Maybe that's why he got spooked when he heard Sonny's name earlier."
Nico with a concerned expression on his face, exchanged a glance with Pedro. "I think we need to talk to Jewel. Set up a meeting place. But I ain't sure she's gonna be happy when she hears about what we had just done," he said through his walkie talkie.
"That I agree," admitted Pedro. "We better get outta here or somebody's gonna call the cops."
And with that, the crew turned around and headed back to the city.
Ricardo knew that Pedro and Nico had opted to talk to Jewel in the first place, hence he had given them her number.
All the same, it felt like months since he last seen the she-spix. Yet excitement filled inside him since he was eager to see her again.
Later…
It was almost in the middle of the afternoon, around 2:10 pm. The city was experiencing a gentle breeze despite the heat. And nearby the downtown district, was a lovely diner that served exquisite food to its locals and other visiting customers. It was called "The Azure Bites."
Outside its own parking lot, where a couple of cars were parked, a sapphire blue 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS with double white racing stripes made its entry. It growled stealthily as it found a parking spot where it was close to the diner and its V8 motor turned off.
Jewel stepped out of it, she looked out to see large windows, white walls and its large sign still standing above its doors written in large blue letters.
"I used to come here a lot when I first moved to Brazil," smiled Jewel. "After tuning our cars, my friends and I sometimes hang out here, especially in the weekend."
"Huh," said Anna as she straightened her rectangular rimless glasses. "I think I've only been here a few times."
"Oh, yeah," said Jewel as they walked toward the diner. "It was great place back in the day when it first opened. Still feels the same now." Her eyes then darted towards a small group of cars sitting together in the parking lot.
One was an orange 2018 Ford Mustang GT, a modern muscle car that had an impressive level of racing performance. Standing to its right was a 1999 Nissan Silvia S15 in pearl white, a Japanese sports car that was perfect when comes to handling, and was just as aggressive as the mustang. And at the far end of the group was the Land Rover Defender 110, the one Pedro presumably drives. Unfortunately, this one was in an unpleasant state, with leaves and mud smeared across its red coat, with a literal branch sitting in its bed.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Jewel as she saw the branch. Anna noticed this detail and spoke to her.
"Didn't Pedro say he had a pickup like that?"
"I wouldn't exactly be surprised if it was his," said Jewel. "These guys must've given this suspect a hard time."
"People are certainly getting reckless these days." Anna then motioned her head towards their destination, gesturing for Jewel to follow along with her. Before Jewel could do so, she looked back at the Silvia and the Mustang.
Her instinct told her that she might have actually seen these cars before.
"Yeah… Truly Reckless."
The pair headed over to the doors of the diner. Once they got in, they were greeted by fresh air opposed to the intense warm air they had left outside. The sound of murmurs between the customers who sat by their tables were deep in conversation. And best of all, the fresh smell of food being served reminded her of the days when she was still a rookie driver.
Nothing much had changed.
She wondered how Pedro and Nico discovered such a place.
Her eyes darted around carefully in search of them. Luckily, she caught a sight of a green baseball cap, and its owner sitting at a table on the far right.
It was Nico, with Pedro at his right, casually sipping mojitos. The yellow cardinal saw the spix macaw and waved his hand, beckoning for them to come over. Anna also noticed this and they both walked over to them.
That was when Jewel noticed they both were not the only ones sitting there. They were sitting at a table of six, next to them were two young avians who she recognized immediately. One was a toco-toucan who looked like he's at the age to attend college, his looks screamed young and adventurous, wore summer clothes, such as a white short sleeved button up shirt and dark blue jeans and a blue bandanna wrapped around his head. While he looked like he'd be a popular kid among his peers, Jewel knew his real nature was more subtle.
Next to him was a blue spix macaw just like her. She was as short as Nico, and wore a minimalistic style of clothing, including a black shirt, ice blue jeans and a pair of crimson red converse sneakers. She had a black bow on her head that held her high pony tail in place. And she looked like someone who's picture would go viral. Though the main difference between her and Jewel was their plumage of feathers, with Jewel having sky blue feathers and hers being a darker shade of cobalt.
Both of whom sat at the table, slurping milkshakes.
A smile worked its way on Jewel's grey beak as she came to their table. The faces of everybody's face lit up immediately when they saw her. All except for Pedro though, he was still enjoying his mojito.
"Hey guys," greeted the older spix.
"Jewel!" Exclaimed Blossom as her amber eyes doubled their size. "How have you been? It's been a while."
"It's been too long for me," said Jewel to Blossom, patting her shoulder. "Glad to see you again kiddo. You too Rico."
"Same!" Agreed Rico as he extended his arm to present his fist to Jewel, to which she returned the gesture as a fist bump.
"Were those your cars outside?"
"Yeah," said Rico. "Burned some fine rubber a while ago."
Pedro who had now noticed the newcomers, turned his head towards them. "Jewel! When did you get here?"
"The past few seconds," said Nico with a smirk and a raised brow. "You were sitting there enjoying the blank space."
"Blank space?" Retorted Pedro. "So, you never heard of savoring every last bite?"
"You're drinking a mojito, genius," said the yellow cardinal coolly.
Jewel and Anna took the remaining two seats available, Jewel taking the one next to Pedro and Anna taking the one next to Blossom. And as the two waited for their drinks, Rico explained what had transpired earlier.
"So, he got away then?" Said Jewel.
"Frankly," said Rico. "The way he reacted. He thinks we know what he was up to."
"What his intentions and past actions are… we have no idea," said Blossom. "Keep in mind he reacted almost immediately when Rico mentioned Sonny's name."
"Also, what were you going to do if you had stopped the driver?" Questioned Anna the scarlet macaw.
"Pedro has a tranquilizer dart gun in his truck. If he gets out of the car, Pedro shoots him with a tranquilizer. And if anyone asks, we tell them that the driver went sea sick from driving too much," answered Rico casually.
A few seconds of silence went by as almost everyone's eyes glanced at Ricardo. Proving how absurd and imperfect his planning was. "Okay… that sounded a little less inconspicuous in my head," replied Rico awkwardly, trying not to shrink in his own seat.
"I thought Nico also had a tranquilizer dart gun," said Blossom confused.
"Yeah, but it's mostly for defense," said Nico. "Especially from the touchy paparazzi." Pedro let out a chuckle when he heard that.
Jewel turned to Rico. "Did this guy have any allies, or did you see him talk to anyone?"
"No," he replied. "Also, I did try to call my dad but he wouldn't pick up, and I wasn't sure how to present myself to the authorities."
"So, we know the fox has Sonny's car. But we don't know why he's acting so resistant, and who he has ties to." Jewel thought for a while. "But we do know that his car is stolen, among many other car parts and gimmicks."
"What do you mean?" Asked Nico.
"Recently we found a small apartment littered with a lot of car parts," said Anna. "We assumed it was Sonny's place where he hides his own parts like Pedro said. But we were later informed that the apartment belonged to someone else."
"How did you find out?" Asked the yellow canary again.
"Someone had broken into it a two nights ago. Stole something but left the rest for the police to uncover. That same someone had also knocked the living daylights from the residents who lived there."
Pedro let out a slow exhale from his mouth after hearing Anna's brief answer. "Whoever wanted in there must be serious. Who is this guy?"
"We don't know," said Jewel. "But he was tall, wore a dark outfit and had a white mask on."
"Does anyone know someone like that?" Quizzed Blossom.
The others shook their heads slowly.
"Wait a minute, did you say that apartment had all sorts of car parts?" Perked up the young toucan.
"Yeah, just a few engine parts, suspense parts and stuff. Nothing serious," replied Jewel.
"Huh… before we met that fox, we found another driver who uses nitrous on his pickup," said Rico. "I raced against him but lost."
"I did say it wasn't against the rules for using nos at that event," said Blossom sweetly.
"Yeah," groaned an upset Rico before turning to Jewel. "What do you think?"
Jewel crossed her arms and her legs underneath the chair. At that moment a waiter came over and handed both Anna and Jewel her drinks. Anna had gotten herself a mug of decaf coffee. Jewel had also gotten something that looked pretty similar, but judging by her cup's aroma it was something else.
Jewel took a sip before looking around to see if anyone was there. And after that, she made a conclusion. "I think we are looking at some kind of a smuggling ring. Not a big one, but something that we should watch out for. If this driver you raced against, Ricardo, really has an unknown source to so kindly provide him a nitrous kit, and if that renegade really broke into that stuffed apartment full of parts…"
"Then this smuggling ring might be bigger than we can comprehend," finished Jewel.
Everyone else other than Anna had their eyes wide as dinner plates. As much as they loved living on pure adrenaline with cars, they did not want to get involved in the crosshairs of criminals and their activities of ill repute. Jewel thought it would be best to disrupt the tension among them.
"But luckily, if we act fast and calculate our responses, we might be able put this to an end before we even know it," she said. "So, let's begin… we know that Sonny is a Madison Grids driver, and right now there's some activities where lots of car modifications are bought and sold potentially by criminals away from the average pair of eyes. They must be both connected."
Rico then perked up. "The sources to car parts can either be manufactured here are local and pretty common. High quality car parts are actually produced by Madsion Grids or are imported into Brazil."
"Wait, Madison Grids actually produce car parts?" Said Anna.
"Yeah," replied Blossom turning to Anna. "They have their own factory and workshops."
An idea popped into Jewel's mind. She then declared, "Maybe we should focus on those, workshops who produce and import those parts might have a list of customers."
"But that means we would have to get in touch with drivers to check which workshops actually do that," said Rico. "How are we gonna find that out before Sonny gets himself into more danger?"
"I might have an idea," answered a calm and collected voice.
Everyone turned their heads.
It was Nico who had gotten their attention, as he paused a few seconds for some emphasis.
"I know a friend who's supplies quality parts for racers, he's one of the top suppliers and has been around long enough to know which supplier supplies what." He then thought for a second. "I think he can help us and point out which supplier to look out for. And considering that some actually import contrabands, then we might find out Sonny's whereabouts."
"Do you know where we can find this guy?" Asked Jewel.
"Yep, his garage shouldn't be too far from here," replied the canary.
"Looks like we got a plan then," declared Jewel. "Who's ready?"
Blossom, Ricardo and Pedro held their keys up as a gesture of agreement.
"We're ready," said Ricardo.
"Yippee ki-yay," said Blossom.
"Let's do this," said Pedro determined, as he turned to Nico. "You in bro?"
"Oh no!" Nico replied as he finished his drink and put his hands in the air in defense. "I'm riding shotgun with Rico. I've had enough rough riding today."
"Eh? But Rico's still a rookie," a confused Pedro spat back.
"At least Rico doesn't drive his car like a spaceship, jumping off of damn cliffs and straight into trees!"
The sudden back and forth banter resulted in a laugh among others, before heading back out to the doors. However, before Jewel could follow the rest of the gang, Blossom called her over.
"Hey Jewel! You haven't finished your coffee yet."
Jewel turned around as the others went by. She looked at the almost empty glass that sat on her space as a bit of her savory drink was still left unfinished, along with a thin layer of foamy residue covering the walls of the glass. "Ah, I forgot about it. You can have it if you like," she said.
Blossom grinned and took Jewel's glass on the table before raising it up to drink its remaining contents. And once those contents made their way to her tongue, Blossom quickly swallowed it before making her final presumptions.
"Huh… Since when did you switch from coffee to hot chocolate?" Said Blossom to the elder spix macaw, to which she replied.
"Why not? I just like the simple things in life."
Blossom caught up with her as they both followed the others. "Some things really don't change for you, do they?"
Author's note;
Well, this is one long chapter, congratulations if you have made it this far. Oh, and the next chapter is definitely worth your wait sooo, see you all until then.
The Red Rockstar.
That evening…
He sat quietly in his office. Putting his feet up to his desk, and leaning back into his comfy seat, not really caring whether it was dignified for him do so in a suit.
As the mellow orange evening light crept through the window and filled up the room, a sweet sleepy atmosphere had been created as if it was made just for him. The day had been incredibly busy than usual. There were a number of racers entering the organization the in the last few weeks, and more showcase events had to be made to accommodate the increase. He wouldn't be surprised now that Madison Grids' 20th Anniversary was on its way.
His memory began to travel back to the days when they went public for the first time ten years ago.
Unfortunately, his trip down memory lane was interrupted when his phone rang furiously on his desk. It startled him instantly, as he all most fell down from his chair. With a groan he picked it up and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, boss. Just wanted to inform you that the first 20th Anniversary event is about to be underway tonight."
"I see…"
"Would you like to come see it? There is race happening tonight. Would you like a spot reserve a position there?"
He thought for a moment. "Maybe, if I feel like getting some fresh air."
"Alright…" His caller paused for a second before continuing. "Oh, and one more thing. There was a showcase event that happened a while ago, they say the winner was a Spix macaw in a '69 Chevy Camaro SS."
His eyes shot wide open.
"Come again?" He said, his ears tuned in to hear every detail his caller is about to provide.
"The officials have told me that she had gotten her membership renewed and has gotten an invitation for tonight's party."
"I see."
He had been expecting her.
When Madison Grids obtained permission from the government to race on public roads in return of new jobs, they needed drivers who wouldn't crack under pressure, to win the hearts of local car enthusiasts. So, they formed a subtle crew of drivers to set their plans in motion. Apparently, she was one of them.
"You know what? I think I need some fresh air," he said smartly.
"Oh?"
"Reserve me a position. I'll be heading over there soon."
"Excellent. The event starts at 9 o'clock, by the way," and his caller hung up.
His mind began to race a little, now that the atmosphere around him began to turn energetic. His smile grew wider as he stood up.
He headed for the garage.
After sporting a new change of clothes, he pressed the button the allowed the metal doors to open up, letting him into his personal workshop. Inside sat an array of different cars all neatly place in rows and on stands that let other cars park under them. He had not turned on the light yet, and even though he can differentiate which car was which, they all sat quietly in the shade, giving him menacing glares with their headlights.
Some were racing sportscars that were bold and weren't afraid throw a punch, others were stealthy sports sedans that were ready to spook their next opponent, and some were hypercars with shark-like bodies. All which he had gained under a few years since Madsion Grids went public in 2011.
It looked like he was going to take time to make a pick, but in reality, he didn't need to.
What he needed was something memorable, a car that felt personal to him.
"Perfect," he said. Staring back at him, was a car that had gentle curves and black paint. It was a car that he had bought a long time ago, and had been modified to his taste. With round yellow tinted headlights, trapezium taillights and a single crimson racing stripe on the passenger's side that started from the rear and ending at the front bonnet. It was a car that breathed life on the racetrack and was a ferocious fighter.
It was a Porsche 997 GT2 RS.
He walked over to it. Once he got inside and closed the door, he turned on the ignition. It's flat-6 motor rumbled to life, and it roared when he pressed down the gas.
"Time for the prince to make his appearance." He grinned as he drove his car out of the garage.