Realms: Groove Line
After talking with the Acceleron and running some tests, a few important pieces of information were uncovered. First, Luke asked what the orange and chrome thing was. The Acceleron informed the group that it was called a 'Hyperpod' and that there were multiple types. Luke found the 'Dragster' which was the fastest Hyperpod.
Connor asked if all the realms were as difficult as the Storm realm. The Acceleron told him that the Storm realm was harder than some, but generally was in the middle of the pack in terms of difficulty.
Will asked if there were side effects to the Accelechargers. The Acceleron replied that if an Accelecharger was used for too long, it would destroy the user's car. However, some Accelechargers were more strenuous than others. The Storm realm Accelecharger was less strenuous than most other Accelechargers.
Ethan watched back the footage of the race, noting everything he could. If he wanted to do better than his poor display in the Storm realm, he had to learn from his opponents.
Ronnie decided to work on fixing his broken car and contemplate his life choices. Even though every driver in the facility had 2 back up cars, he didn't want to miss a race because of the lack of a drivable vehicle. He was also thinking of forming a kind of alliance to make up for his lack of racing skill.
Luke was also thinking of a potential alliance, but with some other drivers in mind. He had spent most of his time on the below ground training course to try and improve.
Marie decided to have a private conversation with Aidan regarding his recent race. Seeing him dodge the lightning with ease made her drag him to a secluded area, before they walked out about 5 minutes later. Marie wouldn't tell the others what she had discovered however, but she had the idea of a truce or alliance with her brother. Luke suspected their talk was about what was observed of Aidan in the Storm realm, but he couldn't confirm his theory.
Aidan spent a large portion of his time staring at his Accelecharger, watching it glow a vibrant purple, occasionally pulsing white. It was incredibly alluring, and after everybody saw the purple cartridge and heard of its effects, they were excited to get their own. Aidan was only slightly disappointed by the effect. Nullifying all electrical attacks and interference was a strong ability but how common was lightning going to be in the realms? Pocketing his prize once more, he strolled into the dining hall.
"Hey Silver, is your nickname Gold now?!" Will shouted hoping to get a reaction from the winner.
"I still prefer Silver." Aidan replied, shrugging off the joke.
As he got some food and sat across from Marie, Ronnie joined the siblings, deciding to quietly bring his proposal to light.
"Hey you two, what do you think about making a team or alliance?" He whispered to the duo.
"Strange, I had been thinking something similar." Marie whispered back.
"I'm listening." Aidan quietly replied.
"We don't have to share Accelechargers or anything if we don't want to, but we could coordinate and generally not attack each other in the realms." Ronnie explained, hoping to better his chances of winning.
"... I love it." Aidan said with a mischievous look on his face. Unbeknownst to the other two, Aidan was very different under the exterior. He was very on board with the idea of teaming up to beat the other drivers in a more coordinated fashion.
"I'm on board." Said Marie
"We can think of a name later. Any ide…" Ronnie started to say, before the alarm started and the realm lights shone red.
"Let's move!" Shouted Aidan, bolting from the table and running for his garage. As all the drivers dropped what they were doing, they ran to their garages, doing last minute preparations.
"Kana, make a private radio channel between Marie, Ronnie and I." Aidan said as he closed his door. If they were going to have an alliance, they had to do it right.
As Aidan began to set up his communications, Will lowered his most recent bed modification onto his truck. It was a large block of metal. After securing it in place, he saw his suspension buckle, as intended. The block would give him extra weight, making him the heaviest vehicle on the track.
While Will admired his work, the first ring of the Wheel of Power slammed into place. The symbol that lit up was a curvy M. Sort of live a C, then a v, and a backwards C. Connor had no idea what the symbol could mean, but he was excited to find out. Closing his door, he put on his helmet and pulled up to the slingshot.
Luke and Ethan completely focused. Distractions would only squander their chances of victory. Ronnie and Marie were running a quick radio check with Aidan, before pulling up to their lanes.
As the second ring locked into place and the alarms changed, the drivers tensed. The last race was hard. Would this one be even harder? Staring at the Wheel, they could only hope that the Wheel's choice wasn't brutally difficult.
The last ring spun around, before clicking into place. As the center of the Wheel flashed and opened, all 7 drivers were flung forward, going to their racing destination as fast as they could.
–
A blue rift tore open above an old orange track, ejecting 7 drivers onto the grimey path. As the septet adjusted to their surroundings, Aidan took the initiative and drove while explaining.
"We must be in a jungle or swamp of some kind based on the humidity and the towering trees." Aidan said over the private channel, informing his teammates of their situation.
"I already hate this place." Ronnie said, turning on his AC.
Winding along the path, it spiralled to the right around a huge tree many times. However, there were many branching paths from the singular track.
"Which track do we take?" Ethan asked, staring at the influx of choices.
"Just pick one. The arrows tell us they all lead to the end. Probably." Will said, hoping that the arrows weren't just a ruse. As each driver picked their own path, they sped off into the densely wooded realm.
"Why didn't we stick together?" Marie asked.
"If we spread out, each of us has a better chance to find the portal. Being together makes us strong, but with this many paths, it's better to cover more areas." Aidan explained, winding along his path. Little did the drives know what awaited them deeper into the racing realm.
–
As Luke sped along the mucky track, he noticed that his car was turning slightly more than usual. Before he could think further into it however, tall slug looking monsters with claw heads sprung up on the sides of the track.
"HOLY SHIT!" Luke yelled, pressing his Nitrox button immediately. As his car was propelled along the path by a jet of flames the monsters behind him missed grabbing his car, looking at him as they slunk back down. There was no time to think, and he subconsciously put his previous question on the backburner. He had to pay full attention to avoid a scrape like that again.
–
While he had only been in the realm for 10 minutes, Will felt entirely lost. He had been driving along a narrow piece of track above murky water for a while now, but there was a split ahead. After a moment of thought, he took the left fork.
'I know I wanted the realm to be easier, but this I'd downright boring aside from bring lost.' He thought, as he drove further along the water before a glint caught his eye. There was something shiny on a patch of land below. Deciding to chance his win on his discovery, he drove off the right side of the track.
His risky choice was rewarded with a moss covered Hyperpod. The back had a small ramp and a vehicle slot, while the front was taken up by 2 large drills. Driving up the back and slotting into place, the back ramp lifted up, and the front drills began to spin. Driving forward into the thick vines ahead of him, the drills blended their way through the organic wall. Will smiled, wondering if he could reverse engineer something like this.
–
Ethan was somewhat out of the trees, but could see the forest stretch out forever to his right. Turning left, he slammed on his breaks. The track was completely covered in huge, thick vines.
Glancing around the area, something metallic caught his eye. Based on the orange and chrome color, it was a Hyperpod! It had 8 hulking wheels, 4 per side, and the body was made of joints. The machine was covered in vines and moss, but that made it easier to reach the cockpit on top of the front joint, which was stuck in its closed position from the foliage.
Driving into the cockpit before locking in place, the machine whirred to life. Accelerating, the vehicle transporter easily bent up, and drove over the intense greenery with ease.
'I want one.' Ethan thought jealous of the incredible suspension his lucky find had. With something like this he could go anywhere!
'Maybe I'll ask if Will can build one or something.'
–
Connor snaked along the track. He could only hope he was going the right way. He had noticed that his car was driving strangely, and had been testing the track by driving rather wildly, when a huge green foot came crashing down in front of him. Swerving out of the way, and definitely not screaming, he drove off the left side of the track to avoid the large green creature.
Coming to a stop, a huge serpent-like creature reared its head on his right side! Driving off of its body and back onto the track, Connor sped away with an injection of Nitrox 2.
"What the hell is this realm!?" He asked out loud. While the Storm realm was difficult, this was worse.
–
As Marie drove along a straight above the treeline, she could hear a faint buzzing. While that may not be cause for concern, it continued to grow louder. Marie felt a pit in her stomach as she looked around. Giant mosquitoes.
Pressing her Nitrox button, she sped along the track, eyes wider than ever under her visor. The car-sized mosquitoes gave chase, hoping they could get their fill of fuel.
In the mad chase, Marie sped under a branch, and the tunnel visioned insects flew right into the solid wood, creating a satisfying *splat*. Looking back, she saw that the bugs were no longer there. Calming herself, she drove along the twisty track, hoping that there were no more bugs.
–
Aidan twisted along the track, with Ronnie not far behind him. Their original tracks conjoined, surprising the future boys.
"Where the FUCK are we?" Asked Ronnie. This track was beginning to get old after half an hour.
"I assume that the first two thirds of the track are the split paths that eventually join together. I think the main joining point will either be right before the portal, or right before a final challenge. Maybe both." Aidan explained. It made sense, the end of the Storm realm was the hardest part, so it would be safe to assume that the track gets hardest right before the end.
"Well, if we do make it to the end, mind giving the loser this one?" Ronnie asked, hoping for some charity to make up for his deficit of skill.
"No promises. The Accelecharger could be better than Storm." Aidan replied, partially crushing Ronnie's hopes of ever winning.
–
As Will reached the other side of the thick vines, his Hyperpod came to a stop. As the rear ramp lowered, Will reversed off the drilling machine, before speeding off along the open track.
–
Ethan finally reached the other side of the vines. Still mesmerized by the way the Hyperpod handled the terrain, he was snapped out of his trance by the cockpit being moved forward and down to track level. Driving off, he sped forward.
After snaking around a few turns, he saw something in the distance. A perfect circle, with a beige outer ring and a light blue center. The realm symbol was at its core. The strange shape was a murky green color.
"I can see the end of the realm!" Ethan said over the radio, letting everybody know that the end was drawing near. In his excitement, he almost missed the large centerpiece to the open, windy track. It's eyes opened, sharp like a jack-o-lantern. Opening its mouth, it let out a roar, as all the vines in the area began to move.
Ethan let out a yelp, flooring his accelerator to avoid the vines chasing him. In his fit of panic, he did not notice how fast he was actually going. The vines caught up, encircling his ruby truck and holding him in the air tightly. Looking down at the track below, he saw Will being chased down too. The vines closed in, before suspending his cat next to Ethan's.
"Well, this sucks." Will said.
"Tell me about it." Ethan replied.
–
Marie thought she was doing better than the last realm, but then she saw the vine monster. Speeding along the track she cursed her lack of top speed, and pressed her Nitrox 2 button. Rocketing away from the vines, she drove side to side, trying to avoid the vines coming at her, before she got hit dead on. As she got held up, she sighed. Maybe she wasn't as cut out for this as she thought.
–
While Aidan and Ronnie were nowhere in sight, Connor finally reached the vine controlling beast. Seeing his friends suspended, he knew that he could win. Driving along the same path as the others, he centered his car, avoiding the green mush on the edges of the track. His speed steadily increased.
As the track narrowed and the vines moved faster, Connor moved just as fast. 120, 150, 180. Pressing his Nitrox button, he gained more speed, outrunning the vines behind him. As the monster saw that he was too fast, it moved some of its vines to block the portal, and prevent him from finishing. However, it was too late, as Connor sped ahead, entering the portal and finishing the race.
As Connor vanished from the realm, a pulse of energy left the portal. The vines from the monster loosened their grip, retreating into the trees. As the trio of captured cars fell, Luke, Aidan, and Ronnie reached the final area. All of the creatures were affected by the blast, leaving the track and ignoring the drivers. The vine beast let out one final cry, as it turned into solid wood and stopped moving. As the realm now sat dormant, the remaining drivers went to the portal.
–
As Connor flew out of the Wheel of Power and came to a stop in his bay, a green glow erupted from his cabin. A rectangular cartridge had appeared beside him with the same green color. The intricate lines appeared identical to the ones on the Storm realm Accelecharger, but a different color. The curvy symbol emblazoned onto one side indicated where the prize was won, and the bottom read 'Swamp'.
"So that was the Swamp realm." He said, admiring his prize. Now he knew why Aidan stared at his own Accelecharger all day.
The portal flashed behind him as the other drivers left the realm. Not much later, the portal closed, and the Wheel of Power spun back into its dormant position. Who knew what realm would open next?
–
The Siblings Music Playlist:
Aidan's choice is: Breach 2015 from Payday 2
Marie's choice is: BADTEK by Ebimayo
Enjoy!
–
Ronnie Advice!
Cousin Ronnie says: "There is such a thing as a 'one for the price of none' deal, that's if you're good at stabbing the person then running away with both the product and the money!"
–
Will's Accelecharger Study:
"Hey Will, what does my new Accelecharger do?"
"After running some tests, the Swamp realm Accelecharger appears to instantly create a road of vines beneath the vehicle if a road is absent."
"When does it work?"
"As long as the car is airborne. It will attempt to connect to existing track however, so if you use it over a jump it will just connect the ends of the track to each other. Or using it after falling from the track could save you, creating a one time path back onto the track."
"Does it have a name?"
"I'm calling it Sprout Road."
"Thanks for the help Will."
–
This chapter didn't take that long to write, but work and procrastination put this off. The next one should be sooner and I'll try to get these to be once a week or so but I guess we'll see. FYI, don't expect ALL the realms to be textbook, there are just a few movie realms that are easier to follow from the screenplay. Well, until next time, have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Realms: Echo Location