Origins: We Chosen Few
A flat, stone brick pentagon with light blue edges stood still in an otherwise empty white space, despite touching nothing. It was dead quiet in the blank void, or maybe it was a closed space, but as the space around the points of the pentagon began to warp, it became clear that this would not remain as a peaceful closed space for long. The silence was broken by the alien sound of 5 purple portals with mostly green edges bursting open, producing 5 extremely diverse vehicles.
A sleek chrome and light blue car, a junky truck, a taller red truck, a rat rod with some western props upon its exterior, and a blue rally car, covered in dust and dirt emerged onto the platform, their engines creating a symphony of noise that overpowered a rather girly scream and some energetic music. Brakes screeched the rally car, red truck, and rat rod to a stop, while the junky truck and chrome car slowly stopped themselves. Then, the noises stopped, and the portals closed. All the cars stopped making noise, until the sound of car doors opening could be made out.
"Woah…"
"Where are we?"
"How strange…"
"..."
"Is my camera seeing this or am I hallucinating?"
The drivers looked around, wondering what this strange place was and why they were here, until they noticed that there were other people with them.
"Hey!" Shouted the man in the gray sweatshirt. "If we're all here, maybe some introductions are in order."
The man in the gas mask nodded
"Sure." Said the man in the white hoodie
The man with the poncho gave a thumbs up
"Alright, is it fine if I record this too?" Asked the man in the black leather jacket
"It's fine with me." The man in the gray sweatshirt responded. "I'll go first."
"My name is Aidan. I'm 19 and love ground based racing. My car here is called Mirror. Its model is an 811 but it's very custom at this point. I'm from the town of Durtington." Explained the man in the sweatshirt, now known as Aidan.
"Guess I'll go next." Said the man with the gas mask, as he took it off.
"I'm Will, I think I'm 19 or so and I like inventing things even if they blow up. The junk that moves behind me is Scrap Box, it's both my home and my vehicle and it's got a v18. I don't know where I'm from but I spend my time in the Wastes." Will said, creating some confusion in the other drivers. Where was the Wastes? It wasn't anywhere they had heard of before.
"Looks like I'm next." Said the man in the white hoodie, breaking the drivers out of their thoughts.
"I'm Ethan, age 19 and I love nature and the environment. It's very beautiful. The truck behind me is a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 WT, and it's an absolute beast! I haven't heard of either of your places but I'm from Barrvor." The newly named Ethan said, stirring more confusion as to where everybody was from. The man in the poncho saw it was his turn, so he began to speak.
"I'm Luke, age 20, I'm a Stunt driver. The rat rod behind me is referred to as the Yeehaw. I like Stunt driving and cowboys. I'm from Margalin." Said Luke. He seemed to be a man of few words, and, like the others, listed an unfamiliar location as his place of origin.
"And finally, me!" Exclaimed the man in the black leather jacket.
"I'm Connor, age 18, and I'm a rally driver and hold multiple driving world records with my car, Slider. It's a 2006 Subaru WRX STI WRC. I record almost everything and what's going on right now is bound to be very interesting. I'm from Rockrun." Said Connor. Ethan's eyes widened after hearing Connors' explanation.
"Wait. Are you Connor Drifta?" Asked Ethan.
"I am. I assume you know me then?" Connor replied.
"I've seen your videos! They're impressive. Your town was the only one I recognized."
"I didn't recognize any of them. Is there something we are supposed to do here or are we just stuck?" Aidan asked. The second those words left his mouth, a large ball of blue and white electricity appeared above the platform, and grew.
"Sorry I said anything!" Shouted Aidan.
The ball stopped growing, and down came a figure. It was wearing a professional racing suit and helmet, but by the shape of its feels and hands it was obviously not human.
"Drivers." The being spoke. "I am an Acceleron. A race of beings who love driving and competition above all else. I'm sure you all are wondering why you are here. You are here because you have been chosen. We have seen that you all have the potential to become the greatest driver ever. We scanned the multiverse to find the best possible candidates, which is why almost none of you recognize each other's points of origin."
"If we have the potential to be the best, then how would you test that?" Asked Will.
"Put simply, we are going to have you race on our personal race tracks. Whoever wins the final challenge at the end is the greatest driver ever." Responded the Acceleron. "You 5 will not be the only drivers we pick, but you 5 will be the only ones to drive in our first trial, a multistage track we call Highway 35."
"When do we start?" Asked Connor.
"In 2 days. I will send you to a different world near the starting line, and I'll tell you when to start. Until then, I'd suggest getting to know one another and adding an upgrade to your cars. You'll surely need them. The Acceleron responded mysteriously, before extending his hand toward a flat side of the pentagon. More Bricks simple appeared in that direction, and another purple portal opened at the end of it.
"Now go and prepare. Best of luck, and may the best driver win!" Said the Acceleron, before disappearing back into the ball of electricity. The drivers were stunned, but got back into their cars. The sound of engines filled the space once more, and the drivers vanished through the portal, leaving the area empty once more.
–
In the middle of the desert with only a highway splitting the dust, a purple portal broke open, ejecting 5 diverse cars before abruptly disappearing behind them.
The sound of engines stopped, and the drivers of said cars got out, before coming together.
"Even if we're in a competition, maybe we should work together until we know what we're getting into." Suggested Ethan. The other drivers nodded in agreement. Who knows what they may face in the trials ahead? It would be smarter to work together for a while.
"Well we should probably set up a base of some kind. We've only got 2 days, so we should use it wisely. Anybody got any ideas for car upgrades?" Asked Will, excited at the prospect of creating new things.
"I've got a few ideas, but let's keep it small for now." Said Connor, who liked the idea of making Slider even better.
"Then let's get to work." Said Luke. Everyone nodded in agreement, excited to begin their trial to see who among them was the best of the best.
–
Origins complete! This didn't take that long to write, but I had some things going on recently that stalled me. We'll actually start racing now so it'll get interesting. there will be more than 5 drivers eventually but we'll get there eventually. Until then have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Highway 35: Another Dimension?!