Highway 35: Orange or Purple?

After the Acceleron informed the drivers that the next leg of the race would start tomorrow, it was decided that their vehicles didn't need further upgrades for the time being. However, Will did decide that his empty truck bed was a waste, and dedicated a few hours of the day to making a large enclosed barrel containing a bed sheet, which could act as a makeshift blindfold. After dubbing his new contraption the 'Sheet Shooter' be worked more on his blueprints for a proper base. It was in the shape of a heptagon, but could be altered to have up to ten sides, all converging at the top. It appeared that each side would be dedicated to a driver, having a room, open space, a garage, and a large circular area in the center where all sides would converge.

Aidan took the time to reorganize his playlist and make a suggestion list for what to play. Music could be heard across the camp, but it was soft enough that it was white noise if you weren't next to the large speakers on the back of Mirror. Ethan was going over the race footage with Connor. While Ethan was interested in checking out the environment, noticing some interesting things like the sky being orange, Connor had signed up for a video sharing website and was doing some editing of their footage, claiming that 'If we had fun driving it, people will have fun watching it.' He also checked with the Acceleron beforehand to make sure they were allowed to share their races, to which it replied by saying that as long as he didn't show their location in the desert, that the footage in the races was safe. Luke was asleep in his car, with his feet up and his hat on his face.

After some checks, the group realized the reason Aidan had blue tire flames was the color of his tire rubber, which was light blue, while everyone else's was black. Will asked Ethan if he wanted to add anything to his bed, to which he replied 'maybe eventually.' As Will already had his hands full with schematics Ethan thought he didn't need to give him a reason to make more. Will was also curious as to how Luke's rear booster worked. To his dismay, Luke didn't know either. For now, the drivers rested, excited at the prospect of racing on another new track.

–

Day of The Race

Much like the day of the first leg, everyone was running final checks to make sure their cars worked properly. The projector and tape were already set up, so there was no need to do anything else than prepare and start. After all checks were complete, and Will fixed his camera, which had fallen off, all 5 drivers pulled up to the starting line. The projector activated, sending a beam of red light into the midday sky. Everyone knew that this would be intense, based on the previous leg, but they were all excited to see where they would end up.

"Remember to pay close attention to the track and the other drivers this time, you got blindsided by shortcuts last time Aidan." Kana suggested, turning their radio off for a private chat.

"I'll be more attentive this time. Maybe we'll get blindsided by the track though. The flow state is strong, but I can't see everything at once." Aidan replied, aware of his weaknesses. He chuckled to himself. He was so sure in his driving he forgot to look at options that didn't involve the track. Turning his radio back on, he readied himself to race.

'This trick better work' Will thought, looking back at his Sheet Shooter. He was hoping to blind Ethan, Luke, or Connor with it. Unfortunately, the shape of Aidan's car meant the sheet wouldn't work well on him. Readjusting his goggles, he looked back at the beacon for the go ahead.

Ethan caught himself daydreaming about what this place would look like, forcing himself to pay attention to the beacon, lest he miss the green light. He pressed on the gas, hearing his engine flare up, and preparing to go for gold.

Luke let out a deep breath, and steeled his nerves. Just because he won the first leg didn't mean he'd win the others. He only won the last one thanks to his sharp eyesight. He could already tell how much he was struggling on turns. At Least Will and Connor could drift around them. His turning was worse than Ethan's Beast! Still, this was what he was used to, and the raw speed he had somewhat made up for his faults. Keeping in mind that he had extra Nitrox if he was losing badly, he narrowed his eyes and focused on the projector.

Connor was ecstatic. The footage of their previous race was very popular, though there was a debate of whether the footage was real or not. He'd need higher quality cameras, but for now, he had a race to win. He wondered for a moment however, that Acceleron never mentioned any prizes other than a title. Would there be other prizes for winning? He'd ask later. Shaking his head, he refocused on the beacon, excited to see how the race would play out.

The beacon turned yellow, letting out an alarm noise. All the drivers' engines rumbled in anticipation, waiting for the chance to speed along in a new environment.

…

The beacon turned green, letting out the same alarm sound.

As engines roared, all 5 drivers took off from the start line like slingshots, speeding off towards the flat desert, their destination invisible to most. As their speedometers climbed, Will briefly remembered the electric slingshot device at the end of the first leg, wondering if he could construct something similar. Cataloging that thought for later, he knew it was time to begin, as all 5 drivers pressed their red Nitrox buttons.

The sound of engines could be heard for miles across the empty land, as all 5 competitors shot forward, their cars glowing light blue, their engines energized, and leaving trails of fire behind them. As they approached 300 mph, the space ahead of them distorted and ripped open, revealing their gateway to the next track in its purple and green glory. Speeding into it, all 5 drivers and the portal vanished upon contact.

–

An orange track, lined with black edges and yellow arrows sat undisturbed along the beige rocks, before a purple and green portal ripped upon above it, finally putting the empty track to use and spitting out 5 unique vehicles onto a banked left turn and causing immediate panic at the unexpected maneuver. While Aidan took off, with Connor following behind at a slight angle, Luke, Will, and Ethan fought for 3rd. Taking a moment to glance around, the area looked more like Earth than the last leg, though the sky was tinted slightly lavender. As the track stopped turning and evened out, Luke and Will were stuck in a battle for 3rd, with Luke pulling ahead thanks to the straight and Ethan having let off the gas accidentally while looking outside. Shaking his head, Ethan strived to place better, and floored his pedal to catch up to the fight for dominance.

As the track slowly banked right, a U-turn could be seen ahead. While Aidan had speed and maneuverability, he couldn't take that turn at full speed, and was forced to slow down. Connor took the opportunity and gunned it before twisting his steering wheel and forcing his car sideways, creating skid marks and smoke from his screeching tires. Drifting around the sharp turn preserved more of his speed than Aidan, and Connor gained the lead. Luke was forced to slow down a lot, and was now stuck in last, while Ethan slowed down some and Will's chains forced his truck sideways like Connor, creating sparks instead of smoke.

"Damn, maybe I should modify Mirror to drift when it turns tight enough." Aidan thought aloud, while Kana wrote down the idea and silenced the radio to keep their potential plans secret. The track flattened out into a straight with another banked U-turn at the end, giving time for Aidan to gain on Connor and Luke time to catch up, only to brake again for the turn.

'I already lose this one, unless there is a straight shortcut somewhere.' Luke thought, keeping his sharp eyes peeled for a chance to catch up. Meanwhile, Connor was loving this new track. It gave him a chance to show off why his car was called Slider. Taking the left banked U-turn, he was excited to see another U-turn ahead. This track was His. Quickly looking at his rear view mirror, he could see that Aidan had taken to the outside line of the turns to preserve speed, which seemed to be working. Aidan was slowly gaining on Connor, and once these turns stopped, his victory was assured.

Will was holding onto third for the moment, and hoped that he could use his Sheet Shooter soon. He didn't want to waste it though, so he waited. Using it this early would produce no results. Ethan was fine in 4th for the time being. He had thought of using the rocks to skip the track, but he could tell it wouldn't be faster. For now, his goal was to stay out of last, and find a shortcut.

The track did another banked right turn, onto another straight, before another banked left turn. The next parts of the track could be seen briefly through the rocks, showing 2 more U-turns and some upside down bits of track, showing Connor a good lead and Luke more pain.

The track moved under some rocks before doing the next banked right, which was wider than the others, and gave Aidan some extra speed to gain on Connor. Leading into another straight, and doing a final banked left turn, Aidan was right behind Connor, and intended to stay there for a bit. Luke knew he'd have to use Nitrox later to catch up, as his losing gap was large, but he wanted to wait for a better chance. The screeching of Will's tires stopped as he left the final banked turn, sparing everyone's ears. Ethan looked right to see a strange sight.

As the track turned right it revealed a back to back split helix track. Ethan and Will hoped they would have the downforce and speed to make it through, as Connor drove left and Aidan drove right. As Aidan and Connor narrowly missed each other at the apex of the first helix, Will drove right with Luke following him, while Ethan drove left. The force was intense. It almost felt like magnets were pulling the cars and their drivers onto the track, as everyone clutched their steering wheels tighter and fought gravity the whole way through each inversion. As Ethan looked up while at the apex of a helix, he saw green below him, assuming they were trees.

'Just where are we?' Thought Ethan as he finished his second helix. Aidan and Connor finished their third helix in sync, leading them to a jump. Their cars left the track, soaring through the air like flightless metal birds, nearly touching each other, until they landed on the track below. By the time the front runners nearly landed, Ethan, Will, and Luke were airborne too, when Ethan and Luke spied a disconnected track ahead, which was purple in color.

The orange track thinned back to its normal width after everyone had landed, while Connor, Aidan, and Luke took off around a right turn. Meanwhile, Ethan and Luke jumped off the orange track, and onto the purple one, hoping they had found a shortcut.

As the orange track banked gently right before evening out and turning left, Will wondered where Ethan and Luke had gone off to. Putting it out of his mind, he focused on the orange track, as it led further into the rocky mountain with a dipped straight, lift up, and a gentle banked right.

–

Ethan had never seen trees this big in his life. The purple track dove down below the canopy of leaves, revealing huge thick trees. Luke was also in awe at their size, but knew that this alternate track could be his best chance at victory, so he put aside his thoughts as the purple track banked right, before remaining banked and going straight and slowly evening out. Dipping down slightly, the purple track banked left and spiraled down around a large tree. Luke could tell from the lack of turns that this path was perfect for him, as he pulled ahead of Ethan, spiraling down the tree three times before the track evened and straightened out.

–

Up on the orange track, the fight for first continued, as Will was still a bit behind, and Connor and Aidan struggled to beat each other. Connor would keep taking the better line, forcing Aidan to stay behind him or take the outside line, keeping them in a struggle. Thankfully for Aidan, the track was straight right now, letting him take the lead from Connor as they rode next to the rocks. Taking the tightest line on the upcoming right turn, Connor knew Aidan would pull ahead, so he reached to his right and flipped a small switch.

A small compartment on the front bottom of Connor's car opened, revealing a metal claw. The claw launched forward, latching onto the rear of Aidan's car, tethering Connor to Aidan.

"What was that?" Aidan asked over the radio, having felt a disturbance from his car. Kana put up a small display of where the damage was located on his console screen.

"It was my Grappling hook. I hope you didn't forget about it." Connor explained. Aidan knew he could no longer escape without dragging Connor with him. He didn't want to be rear ended either, so he opted to keep driving normally, removing Kana's warning display. The orange track turned right, then rising before turning left then right rapidly. This was going to be tough with the extra weight

–

The purple track went straight through a small rock tunnel before dipping down and going straight across the canopy. Luke started to pick up huge speed, as there was nothing to slow him down now. Ethan followed behind, but the gap was clearly increasing. The canopy disappeared, and the purple track was suspended above a large gap, making Luke slightly nervous at the space below them.

After reaching the other side of the chasm, the purple track turned left, then around to the right, before Luke and Ethan both hit their brakes. They just hit quite the road block. The track turned up into a ramp, leading towards a large, spinning, silver wheel with 3 curved spokes above a huge chasm.

"Luke, I think we've made a mistake." Ethan said, worried that they wouldn't even finish at this point. Luke continued to stare at the wheel, before backing up to the halfway point of the previous turn.

"Go when I say go." Luke said without worry. "I know how stunts work, I'll time it right so we both make it across. While Ethan had no experience, he trusted Luke would get them across this challenge, so he lined up with Luke. Once Luke saw he was lined up, he stared at the loop.

"When I say go, keep even with my speed, we'll go at 165 mph." Luke informed Ethan, before beginning their countdown. "3…2…1… go!" Luke exclaimed, as he and Ethan hit their gas pedal, keeping even with each other, as they sped toward the silver wheel. Leaving the ground, Ethan clenched his teeth and Luke held his steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white, as they perfectly soared through the gap between 2 of the spokes. Landing on the other side, the 2 boys let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, before starting to speed down the purple track again.

–

The orange track turned left then banked, before turning and banking right. Banking and turning left then turning right and evening out, heading into a tunnel. Aidan's headlights turned on automatically, thanks to Kana, while Connor flipped his light switch behind the left side of his wheel. Behind them, Will's chains created sparks in the dark, and his cracked headlights turned on at the press of a button on his console. Turning left, then right, the track straightened out and split into 2 identical tunnels. As the Grappling hook was still attached, Connor followed Aidan down the right tunnel by default, while Will took the left tunnel.

The ends of the orange track curled up slightly, ramping the 3 drivers into the air, and landed on the other side of the drop. Unfortunately for Connor, the impact of the landing snapped his Grappling hook. Seeing his chance arise, Aidan reached over and pressed his Nitrox button, but Connor thought that he would try to make a break for freedom, so he also pushed his Nitrox button.

As their engines flared up, Will reacted fast, pressing his Nitrox button as well. Using the last of the Nitrox in their tanks, the silver speedster, the blue drifter, and the rusty junker began to glow light blue and sped forward around a left turn, into a right, before rising up and taking a banked left, while leaving trails of orange and blue flames along their path. The orange track turned right while dipping down, before rising over a hump and dropping down, revealing a purple track to the left, coming from the canopy. Turning and banking right, before turning and banking left, and going over a small hump, some familiar cars reappeared behind Will.

–

Luke and Ethan knew they would have to make up for lost time from their Stunt with the silver wheel, so they made up for their roadblock by using all their Nitrox, giving Luke a sizable gap in front of Ethan. Still, they didn't know if their alternative track was shorter than the orange track. Maybe they are already finished? As Luke and Ethan emerged from the canopy, the purple track led back up to the orange track. Jumping back on, they were greeted with the sight of Scrap Box's rear end.

Will, seeing an opportunity, pulled down a lever behind him, tipping the tub on the back of his car and releasing several large sheets. They had the intended effect, and stuck to Ethan and Luke's windshields long enough that they were forced to stop, lest they drive off the track. After the sheets fell off, they could see their competitors speeding off, and they wondered if they could have won if the silver wheel wasn't there. What a strange design choice from the Accelerons.

Aidan and Connor were neck and neck, though Connor was slightly ahead. Having taken enough of a lead to cut off Aidan from the fastest route, Aidan was effectively screwed. Even with Will hot on their tails, the positions were practically locked in, as the end of the track came into view after a harsh 90° banked right. Zooming over a hump and to the left before turning right and dropping, Connor blocked Aidan from passing on the slight straight, then took the inside of the left while the track moved back up towards the end. Another gentle right led to the final stretch, and the portal appeared, as Connor flew toward it, with Aidan close behind, and Will hot on their heels.

–

In the middle of the barren desert, the exit portal opened, ejecting Slider, followed by Mirror, with Scrap Box not long after. Aidan knew he'd gotten screwed, but still felt the adrenaline from the race. Breaking out of the flow state, he knew he had fun, Even if he didn't win. He'd just have to win when it counted. The portal finally ejected Beast and Yeehaw, disappointed at the loss.

"So how was the purple track?" Asked Will, curious as to what the pair faced.

"You'll see in the footage. It was beautiful but it wasn't much faster than your path. If we didn't have to stop we would have been ahead of you though, but just barely." Ethan said, remembering the trees. At this point he could only guess where the next race would be, but he was sure that wherever they landed, it would look stunning. Turning his radio off for a moment, Aidan asked his A.I. something he had been thinking about since before he entered the first race.

"Hey Kana, what would you think of having a projected form? Just like a hologram so you're more 'real', y'know?" He asked.

"That would be cool! Would I design it?" She exclaimed, excited at the prospect of being almost physical.

"Sure, we'd just need more time, so think about it and we can probably work on it after we finish the race legs."

"Understood."

While Aidan turned his radio back on as he drove back to camp, Connor was ecstatic that he won. While he didn't like having to basically steal speed from Aidan, it worked well. He'd have to replace that Grappling hook though. Doing some celebratory donuts, he sold back to camo with everyone else, knowing that there was work to be done before the next race.

–

Aidan's Music Playlist: (A new segment to recommend some Music that Aidan's been enjoying recently)

This chapter's music choice is: Time Leaper by Hinkik. "Enjoy!"

–

This didn't take as long as I thought it would. I came up with the new segment idea and thought it would be a good compromise instead of having music throughout the chapter, though I will make exceptions to that in the future. No new powers, there won't be any driving upgrades until after HW35. For now, have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Highway 35: Sand and Symbols