Realms: Hadopelagic Pressure
The members of Mud Masters learned the hard way that losing a car sucked. You had to dedicate most of, if not all of your time to making a new one or fixing the broken one. While Connor's car was somewhat melted, at least he had something to work off of. Ethan had to make his truck from scratch! Thankfully, they had backup vehicles so it wasn't incredibly important to finish before the next realm.
As Connor worked on his Chassis, his mind kept thinking about how his Accelecharger failed. It worked as intended, but seeing that the all-powerful Accelechargers weren't 'get out of jail free' cards was a big deal. After seeing them in action for a while, it was clear that they required some amount of strategy. Especially because they can only be used a certain number of times per race.
'I'll have to drive smarter in the future. Of course vines couldn't withstand metal melting heat!' Connor berated himself. Dusting his hands off, he decided to work on the recordings for a while to clear his head. Shutting off the garage lights, a faint green glow could be seen coming from his leather jacket.
After hearing about what Ronnie's Accelecharger could do, he felt somewhat lucky. Out of the first four Accelechargers, he felt that his Sprout Road was the most applicable. Its only real weakness so far was heat, and it could be used to cross gaps or save himself in a pinch. While Night Light was also more applicable, Lightning Rod and Impervious Tires had much more specific use cases. Entering the monitoring room and clearing his mind, he cracked open his laptop and got to work. After all, he had to give the people what they wanted, right?
–
"Why did ya take the time to pick up Ethan?" Aidan asked his sister.
"I knew I wasn't gonna win and it just felt like the right thing to do. I know he could have just used the EDR but he would have lost his truck either way." Marie explained.
"Guess that's true. Thoughts Ronnie?" Aidan said. Ronnie didn't hear him though, as he was lost in thought looking at his Accelecharger.
'If I won an Accelecharger fair and square, then I must deserve to be here, right? I must be fit to stand among these drivers.' Ronnie thought, staring at his scarlet cartridge.
"Ronnie!" Aidan raised his voice to get his attention.
"Huh, what?" Ronnie looked around, broken out of his thoughts.
"You didn't hear a thing, did you?" Aidan asked.
"Uhhhhhhh no." Ronnie replied.
"Nevermind, it wasn't that important. Did you replace your tires yet?" Aidan asked.
"Yea I replaced them earlier. I know that I'm totally the greatest driver here but driving on melted tires is a pain." Ronnie boasted.
"Yea, you're definitely the best, crime boy. Well, at least you're better than me. Who knows when I'll win." Marie said, disappointed that she hadn't come close to winning yet.
"I'm sure you'll win sooner than later." Aidan reassured his sibling.
"Yea, you'll win some time. Hell, if I can win, you can too!" Ronnie said.
"Thanks, guys. Now, let's win the next one!" Marie exclaimed while smiling.
"Light Speedsters for life, fuck yea!" Ronnie shouted.
–
"Hey, Will are you in he- what the hell is that and is it going to explode?!" Luke asked as he walked into Will's garage. Will was strapping two large fans to a central engine. What for, Luke could not tell.
"I don't think it will explode. I'll put this aside for now. So what's up?" Will asked, jumping off of his new invention.
"What were you working on?" Luke asked.
"Well, I originally wanted a large cooling fan, but then they created a bunch of lift so I decided to create a hover module instead. It has yet to work but I think I'm getting there." Will explained.
"You'll get there eventually. You always do. Anyways you need food. Ya really gotta stop working without eating." Luke said, reprimanding Will for his lack of self-care.
"Food shmood, but fine, since you insist." Will replied. Leaving the garage, the Fallout Boy duo grabbed some food at the bar before grabbing a seat. Luke grabbed a set of Tacos while Will grabbed a bunch of random things. As the Inventor shoveled cereal into his mouth, Luke noticed a faint orange-yellow glow from his friend's overcoat.
"You guys all really like your Accelechargers, huh." Luke said.
"Well, yea. They're unique, as far as I can tell, and they're super cool and powerful." Will explained.
"Think I'll get one of my own soon?" Luke asked.
"I dunno. That's up to you and also partially luck of the draw. Your biggest strength is your speed, so I'd bet that we'll find a realm that caters to your strengths eventually." Will explained. Looking back at the previous realms, they all did have an area of expertise. The only issue was that the realm selection was practically random, and they didn't know what any of the symbols meant until they had already cleared a realm. The best he could do was hope that he got lucky.
Taking a bite of his taco as Will vacuumed sugar-free gummies into his mouth, their conversation died out. Luke was grateful that the Acceleron provided their base with food. Trying to get anything out to the middle of nowhere would have been a huge pain.
Luke's train of thought was abruptly broken by red lights and a blaring alarm. A realm was opening! Inhaling the rest of his food, the cowboy ran down the hallway, nearly falling as he turned to his garage door.
The wheel of power continued to spin around itself while the inner ring locked into place. A wavy symbol lit up, similar to the Storm realm symbol. It was reversed though, and it was less extreme. The right side of the symbol was a flat line.
–
'I have no idea what that symbol means. Damn, I was hoping to infer something from it.' Aidan thought. Pressing his ignition button, he rolled up to the slingshot. He would take this realm down, he was sure of it.
–
Ethan got into one of his functional trucks before pulling up to his slingshot. He knew that he drove stupid in the last realm, so he wanted to keep a level head this time around. He knew he'd win eventually. He just needed a dash of luck.
The middle ring of the trio slammed into place, matching the symbol on the first ring. The alarm changed pitch, and the second light turned yellow. Holding his steering wheel tighter, Ethan steeled himself for the challenge to come.
–
As the drivers waited relatively patiently, the final golden ring spun around, rotating and spinning, before finally snapping into place. With a flash of light, the portal appeared, and the competitors shot forward, vanishing into the realm with a flash at 300 mph.
–
A light blue rift tore open, as the septet was flung into the realm… before coming to a stop. As their cars slowly fell, it was clear that something was wrong.
"Guys, where is the track?" Connor asked.
"Hell if I know." Ronnie said, glancing out his windows.
"Let's see if we're missing something." Will said. He reached over, picking up his Cavern realm Accelecharger, and placing it into his port. Pressing the button beneath it, his car began to glow yellow-orange as it accepted the alien cartridge. As an ascending chromaticism rang out, Will could see all, as everything as far as he could see was suddenly illuminated. What he saw, however, was not reassuring.
"I think we're underwater. All I can see is very creepy fish, manta ray-like creatures, and fish bones." Will said. In front of the group, large angler fish swam, big enough to eat their cars. They were decorated with skeleton-like patterns that faintly glowed purple-blue, and in place of a circular bulb, they had a thin, rectangular orange light.
"Shit." Ronnie said, pulling out his flask again. Taking out his will, he signed the bottom before putting it away again. As he put his hands back on his steering wheel, his car stopped falling. They landed on something. Will took out his Accelecharger, placing it back on his rack.
All the drivers who could then switched their tire mode to 'hydro' during the moment of calm. A bubble began to expand around them, enveloping the ten-pointed star-shaped platform they were on. The lights turned on as the air bubble expanded, before stopping.
Looking around for a moment, it was now much clearer that they were underwater. As exhaust pipes drained, there was anticipation in the air. There still wasn't a visible track. Where were they supposed to go? Suddenly, the floor opened under them, dropping them down a vertical shaft and all became clear.
Landing on the vertical road below them, it curled back up and left the shaft. The orange track was covered by a large clear tube! With their direction given, the drivers sped along the snaking pipeline.
"Well guys, I think the symbol means water." Aidan said.
"Yes, I believe that much is obvious." Will said.
"That was the joke, Will."
"Oh."
As the sunken path continued to wind a gap in the track could be seen ahead, but it didn't look like there was a jump. The gap was filled with water.
"I think the Accelerons want us to run on water. Think it's possible?" Marie said, thinking of running on water as not possible.
"Only one way to find out, right?" Connor replied. The drivers sped ahead, accelerating before they reached the water to build up speed. Miraculously, they didn't sink when they hit the water. While they lost speed, they were able to clear the gap and reach the other side. Except for Will. His chains picked up water unlike the hydro treads of the other drivers and he sank like a rock. Seeing no alternative, he pressed his EDR, abandoning his truck to use his time on an invention instead.
The remaining drivers continued to drive along the simple pipeline, slowly moving up while moving back and forth. Ethan held the lead like a grip test, with Aidan, Connor, and Luke close behind him. Ronnie looked to be slightly drunk, and Marie's lack of top speed was detrimental here. Eventually, the water outside the pipeline changed from nearly black, to having a bit of blue.
"How close do you think the surface is?" Marie asked.
"Too far." Luke replied.
"Guys, there's a fork up ahead. The left path goes up. The right path goes back to the depths. Make your call. I'm going left." Ethan explained over the radio.
"Left." Aidan and Luke said, taking the path toward the surface.
"Same." Connor said. It was the safer option.
"Yea yea sure dat wunn…" Ronnie slurred out, managing to not hit anything as he took the left fork.
"I want ta chance right. Maybe I'll get lucky." Marie said, taking the right fork.
"Luck ish maii ting.." Ronnie said, seeming upset.
"Good luck sis." Aidan said as his proximity radio left her range. As the light left the water around her and she dove back down, her only source of light was the lights in the pipeline. Spiraling around the depths, presumably avoiding rocks, (she hoped she was only avoiding rocks.) the pipeline expanded and the track grew in width. As the track stretched into the distance, she could tell that she would be in for the long haul. Pressing her Nitrox button, she sped down the tube, leaving flames in her wake.
–
While Marie was driving in the dark, the remaining five drivers kept rising. As the track brought them higher the water became a brighter blue, revealing red rocks and bright coral outside of the tube. The floor opened up again, forcing the quintet to speed up and run on water again. Unfortunately, Ronnie was a bit too drunk to realize and fell through the surface. Lana, noticing that Ronnie had yet to use his EDR, automatically activated it for him. In a flash, Ronnie's waterlogged car was removed from the realm and flung back to his launch bay.
While Ronnie was being ejected from the realm, the track split four ways. Ethan took the middle left path, Connor took the far left option, Luke took the far right fork, and Aidan took the middle right track. Splitting off of each other, the tracks spiraled and snaked around each other like a web of track before rejoining. Ethan continued to barely hold onto the lead, his sheer size making the task of passing him incredibly difficult.
As the pipeline evened out for a stretch, the drivers pressed their Nitrox buttons. Immediately, Ethan and Aidan sped ahead of Connor and Luke, as their Nitrox 3 was much more potent than their Nitrox 2. As their flames died down, the track forked again. Ethan took the left path, followed closely by Aidan. Connor and Luke took the right path.
'Silver is way too close for comfort. I'll let the beast roar!' Ethan thought. He pressed a button on his console. The exhaust on the back of his truck flared to life, before erupting with flames! Aidan immediately braked, forced to stop or take the heat and he knew Mirror didn't like heat.
'Why is there so much fire in the water realm!?' Aidan thought. The two tracks wove around the rocks outside before joining again. Ethan still held the lead and Aidan recovered his second place once Ethan's flames died out. Looking back, Ethan could tell that this would be a brutal fight for first.
–
Down by the sea floor, Marie was practically falling asleep at the wheel, only kept in check by some music, her gum, and her drive to win the realm. Looking ahead, she spotted something. Well, two things. First, she saw that the track ahead of her curved sharply upward, so she was probably headed for the surface. Second, on the side of the track she spotted a Hyperpod! Based on the shape, she deduced that it was likely to be the dragster Hyperpod. Stopping in front of the vehicle transporter, she shifted to reverse and backed up the ramp.
"Let's see what this thing can do." She said out loud. The engine behind her lowered, locking her in place. Putting her foot on the gas, the rear wheels of the machine began to spin rapidly, screeching against the track as it fought for grip. After a five second battle, the Hyperpod won, getting the grip it needed and rocketing up the pipeline at 514 mph. As Marie was forced back into her seat, the Hyperpod carried her up the incline.
As the blonde girl flew along the pipeline she could see the water becoming progressively more blue, and there was light at the end of the track! The light grew and grew before the pipeline and track ended. As she was flung high above the surface from her speed, she looked down and saw the surface. After reaching its apex,the Hyperpod disconnected from Petal, and careened down into the water as Marie flew ahead.
Landing on the orange track was rough and definitely damaged something, but it was worth it if she won. Since she couldn't see anybody else that meant she was ahead. Sliding across a piece of waterlogged track, she took a sharp right. Sliding across more watery track, she refused to lose, keeping her speed as high as she could. Snaking side to side with the track between the crimson rocks, she quickly checked her realm timer. It had only been half an hour!
"The portal!" She exclaimed. Across the tropical waters, she stopped the realm portal being held up by a formation of crimson rocks. This was it, the realm she would win. Zipping along the track, she turned hard for a right turn, but spun out and hydroplaned from the watery track beneath her. As she spun off the track and towards a rocky pillar, the blonde girl cut her losses and pressed her EDR, ejecting her from the realm in a flash of light. Petal wasn't so lucky, and exploded against the large rock.
–
As the track split again, Ethan and Aidan took the right fork, and while a bit behind them, Connor and Luke took the left path. Weaving between rocks, the tracks joined again before bending up sharply and breaching the surface. Jumping off the end of the track, the remaining quartet landed relatively safely on the track below. However, Ethan and Aidan landed on a different track than Connor and Luke.
As the groups split off of each other, Connor and Luke were being slowed down considerably from the pools of water in the track. Ethan had an advantage, but Aidan had an idea.
"Kana, switch Jump Jets to hop mode, let's jump these puddles." Aidan said. Approaching a waterlogged piece of track Ethan had smoothly crossed, Aidan pressed his Jump Jet button, boosting his car into the air and sacrificing speed, but hopping over the water and landing dry on the other side. Grinning to himself, he sped up a little, determined to catch up to the frontrunner.
As Ethan cleanly passed the water thanks to his truck, Aidan was hopping over puddles like a frog in his rear view mirror. Ethan glanced over the water, spotting the portal. It sported the realm symbol on its center, light blue in color. The realm hadn't been cleared yet! Refocusing on the track, Ethan sped up slightly before slowing down a bit to cross more water. Safely reaching the other side, he accelerated and turned.
As the separate tracks met back up, Aidan was right behind him, but it was a straight shot over one more piece of water to the end! Pressing his Nitrox button and lining up, Ethan blazed forward, removing most of the water from the lul in the track and leaving flames in his wake. Approaching the portal, he vanishes through it in a flash of light, followed immediately by Aidan. As the realm symbol vanished, a burst of energy was sent across the realm.
The fish underwater swam away from the track, bridges of track were formed over the running-on-water portions, and the water was drained from the track on the surface. The realm was complete.
–
As Ethan and Aidan were flung from the wheel of power within less than five seconds of each other, there was no question who won, and they both came to a stop in their launch bays. As Ethan stopped, a light blue light erupted from his vehicle, as the realms Accelecharger appeared before him. The light blue cartridge had the realm symbol on the front, and the bottom read 'Water', signifying the realm's name.
Carefully taking his prize in his hand, the light died down, and Luke and Connor made it out of the realm. There were still ten minutes left before the realm closed however, but the realm was already over. Driving back to his garage and pocketing his new Accelecharger, Ethan turned off Beast. Satisfied with his performance, he left his garage, turning off the light behind him.
–
The Siblings Music Playlist:
Aidan's Choice is: Shoot-'em-up from Rhythm Heaven DS
Marie's Choice is: Bayside Blue by Mikazuki BIGWAVE
Enjoy!
–
W.C.F. Lore:
Coincidentally, each racing team has vehicles that have similar origins. Both Mud Master vehicles are real, both Fallout Cowboy vehicles were made up and drawn by their real life counterparts, and all 3 Light speedsters vehicles originate from GTA 5, being the 811, Spectre Custom, and Jester RR. I didn't plan for the cars to be grouped like that, it just happened.
–
Will's Accelecharger Study:
"Hey Will, did you discover what my Accelecharger does yet?"
"I think I did. After some tests, I've concluded that the Water realm Accelecharger allows the user to drive on water as if it were track, making the surface of water entirely solid for its duration."
"So I could drive over a lake or something?"
"In theory, yes. As long as you can drive across before the Accelecharger's duration is up."
"Did you name it?"
"Yes, I'm naming it 'Hydro Glide'"
"Thanks Will."
–
I said this one would be faster! I didn't expect to finish this early but whatever. Just means I can start the next one. I hope the lore section is interesting. If I get questions about things I'll probably answer them through the lore section but I'll try not to reveal anything special. Well, until next time, have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Realms: Slicker's City