Realms: Echo Location
"Dude, I get that you're obsessed over your new Accelecharger, but you gotta manage your own videos. I'm not running this for you." Ethan said, irked that Connor had inadvertently shoved the pile of race footage onto him.
"Sorry, you'll understand when you have your own." Connor replied, glancing up from his hand-sized cartridge. He didn't get why Aidan had been so absorbed by his Accelecharger originally either, but after getting his own, he completely understood.
While the room was not dark, everything was tinted green by the simple presence of the Accelecharger. Slipping his rectangular prize back into his jacket, Connor got up to help Ethan with the videos. There was a ton of footage to sift through, but it was entertaining to say the least.
"Why do you pocket the Accelecharger? Do you not trust your fellow racers?" Ethan asked.
"Aidan does the same thing, and it just feels right. Like it's MINE so I just feel the need to protect it." Connor answered truthfully.
"I guess that makes sense." Ethan said. Turning back to the computer. Looking at the footage of the Swamp realm, there was so much going on that they may have to just have all the cams play out next to each other. Strangely, Aidan, Ronnie, and Luke saw the least action. Out of the 3, Luke still had an encounter with creatures, but escaped easily. Aidan and Ronnie saw the mosquitoes from afar, but that was all.
"These realms kinda like screwing with us. Like, some of us saw or did practically nothing, while some of us got completely swarmed. Ya know?" Ethan explained.
"I get it." Connor replied. The realms weren't random, per say, but they were unbalanced for sure.
"However, there seems to be a core theme for each realm. If you are good at driving with that skill or theme, then you'll do better." Connor continued, explaining that the realms were probably more skill based than luck based.
"I guess that makes enough sense. The best driver will more than likely win the realm." Ethan said, remembering that they were in a competition to be the best driver. Why wouldn't the races be skill-based?
"I guess we'll just have to see if my theory holds up though." Connor said, returning to work.
"Yep." Ethan replied, turning back to his screen.
–
In the garage of a certain criminal blonde haired boy, a trio of drivers worked and talked. The boy in the gray sweatshirt had a noticeable purple glow emanating from the inside of his clothes.
"I like Futura." Aidan said. He, Ronnie, and Marie had been debating over a team name for the better part of an hour, and had yet to come to a consensus. The themes so far had mostly been future based with only a few outliers.
"I still like Aerospeed." Ronnie said. He noticed how aerodynamic their cars were compared to the others, and came up with the name quickly.
"The Shiny Blooming Criminals?" Marie suggested. She had learned that Ronnie was a criminal and immediately ran with the idea.
"I got it!" Aidan cried.
"What is it?" Ronnie asked.
"The Light Speedsters!" Aidan exclaimed, voicing his idea to the group.
"Why'd ya pick that?" Ronnie asked, curious as to what it meant.
"To travel through time, you'd have to go faster than the speed of light. Seeing as we're all from more technologically advanced worlds, it's like we traveled back in time. Speedsters is both saying that we are fast while being the second half of 'light speed'. Yay or nay?" Explained Aidan, proud of his ingenuity.
"I can agree with that name." Marie said.
"I like it too. Guess we finally found the perfect name. That took way too fucking long." Ronnie said, coming out from under his car. It was still a ways from being back in perfect condition, but the full EDR saved him from having to build another from the ground up.
"Also, since we are teammates, think you can tell me about this ability the others are speculating about? I may be loud but I can keep a secret." Ronnie practically begged, wanting to know what was so special.
"Alright, fine. But this is very secret." Aidan clarified. Ronnie's face lit up, happy that he'd be able to find out the secret.
"I have a form of Clairvoyance. I can see a future where bad things happen to me, but only a few seconds before. It's how I could tell where all the lightning was in the Storm realm. It doesn't work if nothing happens to me though, so I couldn't see which path was correct in Swamp. I also can't see very far ahead, so I trained my reflexes to be faster than my limited vision of the future." Aidan explained.
"After he told me, a lot of things make more sense, like how he would always avoid minor things from happening. I also have a strategic mind, so after he told me about it, I came up with a few ideas of how it could be used. Plus since we are on a team, it means we could work together effectively in the realms." Marie said, telling Ronnie of the idea of better coordination in the realms to try to win more.
"Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, I think this team is fucking awesome! I mean, Aidan can avoid any problem, Marie can create a plan early into a realm, and I have the highest durability and can escape anything! We might be unstoppable if we work in tandem. The only issue is that the Accelechargers are only given to first. I know nobody would part with one that they owned, but what if we sort of share? Like, the winner still gets dibs on their Accelechargers, but they can lend them to others if they don't want them for a race?" Ronnie voiced.
"Sounds agreeable, but until we have more Accelechargers, to the victor go the spoils." Aidan said, liking the idea of team-based sharing.
"I can agree with that." Marie said.
"Well, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Meeting adjourned?" Ronnie asked.
"Meeting adjourned." The other two said in sync. Getting up, they walked out of the garage to go to their rooms.
–
"Will, this experiment has blown up seven times now. Do you know how to quit?" Luke asked his ash-covered friend.
"It'll work eventually, I just gotta brute force through the bad luck." Will replied. Due to his luck, Will would have to do the same thing repeatedly until it finally worked. It's not insanity if there are different results, after all.
"I get that you want this Nitrox stuff to be stronger, but I think that it's strong enough, and this clearly isn't working." Luke said, trying to talk Will out of blowing himself up again.
"Fine, I'll give it a rest, but I'll finish this stupid Afterburner eventually!" Will declared.
"Great, now you should probably change. You never know when a realm is going to start." Luke stated. It had been a few days since the Swamp realm, which meant that they were due for a new race any time now.
"Alright." Will replied, changing into his red overcoat.
"Oh, I had been meaning to ask you something. What do you think of the Accelechargers?" Luke asked.
"Well we haven't seen them in action on a track yet. Conceptually, I love them, but some of them seem kind of impractical. The Storm realm Accelecharger is a good example. How many realms have lightning? Probably not many. It'll be very useful if there is, but completely useless everywhere else." Will explained.
"Well maybe some of the others will be more applicable. Wonder what the next one will do." Luke said.
"Maybe it…" Will started to say, before a loud noise cut him off. It was the realm alarm.
"Let's go!" Luke shouted, running out of the lab. Will grabbed his clean goggles and chased after him.
–
As the 3 golden wheels spun, the inner circle stopped, and a symbol on the side lit up. The symbol was of 2 obtuse triangles, both pointed inward. The triangle on the left was higher up and tilted more, while the one on the right was lower and tilted less.
The first red light turned yellow, and the alarm pitch went up. As the candidates entered their garages, they prepared themselves. Luke pulled up to the slingshot, while Ethan closed his hood and climbed in the cab.
Aidan and Connor took their Accelechargers out of their pockets, placing them in rectangular holders. The holders had 25 Accelecharger slots for easy access to any Accelecharger at any time. As the colorful glow of the cartridges died down, Aidan and Connor pulled up to their respective slingshot.
The middle ring stopped rotating, locking into place. The second light changed to yellow, and the alarm pitch increased again. The outer ring continued to spin and turn as Ronnie and Marie finally pulled up to their slingshots.
The rumbling of their engines combined was drowned out by the blaring alarm. Everyone's eyes were glued to the final golden wheel, waiting for the moment it locked in place. As the wheel spun around once more, the symbol lined up, and locked in place. As the portal opened, all 7 slingshots flung the drivers forward. Speeding down the runway, the drivers vanished in a flash of light, leaving the portal behind.
–
A blue rift tore open, ejecting seven vehicles into darkness and rock. The only illumination came from green crystals embedded in the walls. Their soft green glow, while nice, was not nearly enough to light up the dank cavern.
"I can't see shit? Where are we!?" Ronnie cried, turning on his headlights and partially blinding Connor.
"I think we're in a cave. Is there a track?" Aidan asked, not seeing their familiar orange track anywhere.
"The tunnel doesn't split, and is straightforward enough that the challenge right now may be driving on rocks." Connor suggested.
"Looks like the Nut job and I have an advantage for this one" Luke said, noting that his better sight and Will's chain tires would give them a lead.
"I agree, my western friend! But only one of us can win!" Will said, taking a turn perfectly. His increased traction was a huge gain, as he was used to driving well with a handicap. With that handicap gone, he took off easily.
With their headlights on and their tires set to 'off road', the septet continued through the dark rocky tunnel until the path split. On the right path, the crystals changed to a light blue. The left path stayed green. As Aidan, Marie, and Ronnie took the right path, Luke, Will, Connor, and Ethan took the left split.
–
The crystals of the right path seemed odd to Aidan. While they were a different color and emitted a brighter light, he felt like there was something more to them. Like an invisible thread, but he couldn't tell what for. Maybe magic, or energy, or maybe elec…
"Look out!" Aidan yelled over the radio. Reaching to his right he snatched his Accelecharger from its holder, and placed it into the port. Pushing the purple Accelecharger vertically into the rectangular slot, the port began to glow. The Accelecharger hummed with energy, with an alien sounding ascending chromaticism as his car was surrounded by a vibrant purple glow.
The moment the glow formed, a Cyan crystal on the wall revealed their thread, as electricity began to arc between the colorful crystals. A bolt of electricity shot toward the Light Speedsters, before abruptly changing course to hit Mirror instead. However, instead of electrocuting his car, the bolt discharged around him and into the rocky ground.
"I should have taken the other path!" Ronnie cried, sticking close to the vehicular lightning rod. Marie was mirroring the racing criminal, wary of the newly formed danger. The trio wove their way through the long cave, as Lightning Rod absorbed the danger and discharged it into the ground. Even if they were relatively safe, the incoming threats were still scary.
"Let's get out of here already." Aidan said.
"Nitrox on 3. 1, 2, 3!" Aidan yelled. The trio pressed their Nitrox buttons and rocketed forward. As they sped along the tunnel, they noticed that the crystals gradually turned back to green, indicating that the lightning was no longer a threat. Aidan reached over and deactivated his Accelecharger. The glowing stopped and the port opened up. Placing the Accelecharger back in its place, they continued down their path
–
On the left path, things were not much better. The tunnel opened into a huge cave, but most of the floor dropped out to reveal a large pool of water below. The thin road winded across the room and was the only way to reach the other side. While Will and Luke were ahead by a good margin, Connor and Ethan were falling behind.
Looking ahead, Connor saw that the track made an Ω shape. Will and Luke were about halfway through the huge turn, but Connor saw a shortcut.
"Hey Ethan."
"Yea?"
"I think it's time we catch up."
"How would we do that?"
"Just stick close and follow me."
As he came up to the sharp turn before the semi-circle, Connor reached over and grabbed his Accelecharger. He carefully placed the cartridge face up in a rectangular slot, before pressing a small button beneath it. The sides closed in, locking the Accelecharger in place, as it began to glow brightly. As an alien chromaticism played, Connor's blue car was enveloped by a green light.
He didn't stop at the sharp turn. Ethan hesitated slightly, but trusted his friend. As Connor's wheels left the ground, thick vines began to sprout from the rock beneath him.
'He's making a shortcut!' Thought Ethan, amazed at the power of the he bridged the omega, skipping the entire turn. As they reached the other side safely, Connor pressed the button again, ejecting the Accelecharger from the port. Immediately, the vine bridge began to decay, before crumbling completely. Placing the green cartridge back on its rack, they were now right behind Will and Luke.
The path finally reached the other side of the huge area, and the quartet sped along and into the darkness ahead. Luke, seeing that there were no obstacles for a stretch, pressed his Nitrox button. Seeing the booster on Luke's back light up, the others followed suit, and they sped ahead together, leaving flames in their wake.
–
After a few minutes of driving through the dark cave, the tunnel abruptly widened, dropping the left path quartet onto an orange track.
"Finally, guess we were going the right way after all." Connor said, relieved that they now had some indication of direction. The track was still dark though, and there were stalagmites coming out of the ground and piercing the track.
As the drivers weaved between the pointy pillars of stone, there was a quick flash of light from the left side of the track. Connor quickly glanced over, but saw nothing. Although, it was too dark to see much of anything. Staying wary, he narrowly dodged a rock and turned left, chasing down Will and Luke.
–
After the Light Speedsters cleared the light blue crystals, an orange track came from the ground and led them through a dark narrow tunnel.
"I like having a track, but I still can't see shit." Ronnie said, straining his eyes to see more than 10 feet in front of him. Thankfully, there had yet to be any obstacles.
Finally, the walls receded, and the track they were driving on was next to and slightly below another, larger track.
"I see lights on the track above us. It must be the others." Marie said.
"We'll join them eventually, let's keep going." Aidan said. The track curled up, ramping them off of a jump and onto a higher piece of equally thin track. As they wound around and through the walls, the trio was staying roughly equal to the drivers below. Aidan could tell that Will and Luke had a noticeable lead though. One of them would probably win this realm.
As the crystal lined cavern twisted and turned, Ethan was clearly falling behind. His lack of maneuverability and large size were not helping here. Connor was still stuck behind Luke, who was stuck behind Will. Will reached back and pulled a small lever, causing the barrel on the back of his truck to tip and launch white sheets behind him. Luke and Connor got blinded, and were forced to stop, lest they crash.
As Ethan passed the stopped drivers, he noticed moving lights above them. There was a track winding around the ceiling, between the stalactites!
'That must be where the other path leads to!' He thought.
Ahead of the red truck, Will turned right, and the tunnel opened into a large, open room. The centerpiece was a large loop, from one side to the other. However, the top of the loop was a gap.
As Will sped down the decline, he turned right and rode up with the track. Once he was upside down, he jumped to the other side, landing smoothly and coming down the other side of the room.
As Ethan began his ascension, the high track ended, dropping the Light Speedsters on the track at the other side of the large cave. Will was still ahead, but the trio still had a chance to win.
"Where were you guys hiding?" Will asked.
"The ceiling." Marie replied.
"I won't give up first easily." Will said.
As the four drove along the stone-punctured track, something swooped down from the ceiling.
"What the hell is that!?" Ronnie yelled looking at the flying thing. It had four clawed legs, a set of wings, pure white eyes, and a cthulhu-like face. As more of them started dropping from the ceiling, their screams filled the cave.
As one landed on Marie's car, it cracked her windshield and stared in. She screamed, spinning out and slamming her breaks. As Ronnie dodged another creature, he thought about them. They seemed to screech a lot, and what creature lived in caves?
"They're bats! Aidan, try using your speakers!" Ronnie yelled over the radio. Aidan reached over to his center console, pressing a button to turn on the huge speakers on the rear of his car. As they began to blast the song 'Backstab' the bat creatures started flying more sporadically, crashing into the walls and stalactites.
As Will rounded a right turn, the cave ahead was filled with an orange light. It was the portal! The light blue and beige portal featured the realm symbol on the center. The two triangles were orange-yellow. Will pressed his Nitrox button once more and sped down the straight, flying into the huge portal.
As Will left the realm, a burst of energy left the portal, sending a wave across the entire realm. The bats began to fly away, leaving the area, and the green crystals in the walls began to glow brighter, properly illuminating the caves and dispelling the darkness. As the realm now lay dormant, the remaining six drivers sped toward the blank portal.
–
The sound of chains hitting the ground indicated that Will had made it out of the realm. As he came to a halt in his garage, an orange-yellow light erupted in his car and the realms Accelecharger appeared. It was the same orange-yellow color, and featured the triangles on the front. On the bottom, the inscription read 'Cavern'.
The portal flashed behind him as the other drivers left the realm, but Will was too entranced to notice. He held his new Accelecharger, his eyes filled with the colorful glow the cartridge emitted. As the Wheel of Power spun back to its dormant state, the Acceleron was impressed. The drivers had gotten a hang of the Accelechargers very quickly. This would become very interesting with just a bit more time.
–
The Siblings Music Playlist:
Aidan's choice is: Rock Ain't Dead by ONLAP
Marie's choice is: Jawbreaker by Omori
Enjoy!
–
Ronnie Advice!
Cousin Ronnie says: "OH SHIT! THE IRS! I GOTTA GO!"
–
Will's Accelecharger Study:
"Hey Will, what does your new Accelecharger do?"
"After running a few tests, the Cavern realm Accelecharger appears to act as an ultimate light, illuminating everything perfectly. However, it only works for the driver of the car."
"So its like a set of very bright headlights that doesn't affect anyone else?"
"Exactly!"
"Does it have a name?"
"I'm calling it Night Light."
"Very cool Will!"
–
I clearly lied about doing these faster. At this point, if you wanna know when the next one is out just check occasionally. Does following notify you for updates? IDK. Some other things, the Cyan crystals were an idea I took from Deep Rock Galactic, I just wanted to show off the Accelechargers in the same chapters. Don't expect lightning for a while. This was my most modified realm so far, but I hope the layout was alright. I'll make myself work on the next one extra hard soon so that I can try to get one out in like a week or so. I'm also trying to have the character interaction be better, I was kind of slacking off on that stuff for the last few chapters. Notably, HW35 4 and the last few intro scenes. I'm pushing to improve. Well, until next time, have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Realms: Heat Street