Realms: Slicker's City
"So that's what happened. No wonder you're down. It's totally your own fault though." Aidan said to his sister. After watching the footage of the Water realm and seeing how her desire to win made her lose, her mood made more sense.
"I just can't believe I screwed up like that. I'm supposed to be the tactical and smart one!" Marie replied, angry at herself.
"Hey, I'm not stupid!" Aidan replied jokingly. He knew that she thought ahead more than he did, but he had faster reaction speed, letting him go with the flow instead of planning long term.
"Well, take it from your cousin Ronnie, learn from your mistakes. You know what you did wrong, so don't do it again and you'll be fine! If I didn't learn from mistakes, I'd be dead or behind bars!" Ronnie exclaimed, giving his two cents on the subject. Marie laughed at his declaration.
"Guess you're right. I'll just have to win the next one!" Marie said. Walking away from her Petal frame, she took off her visor.
"That's the spirit! Now who wants food?" Aidan asked.
"I do!" Marie and Ronnie shouted.
–
"Connor, maybe we should interact more with our audience." Ethan suggested, scrolling through the comments on the Lava realm footage.
"Yea, maybe. Maybe I can make a program to combine the footage for us so we have more time to do that. I'll ask Will about that." Connor said. "I just didn't think these would take off. I guess the algorithm decided to bless us."
"Yep." Ethan glanced over from his computer at his Accelecharger, before putting it back into his hoodie. The glow was distracting him from work. As much as he wanted to stare at his newly won cartridge, he had things to work on. "Maybe we should show off the Accelechargers or something? That would be interesting, right?" Ethan suggested.
"Good idea. That would be a good idea, but I think we should have more before we do that. Maybe twelve or so?" Connor replied.
"Yea sure. As much as I want to help I gotta work on replacing Beast for a bit now. I'll see you later." Ethan said. Closing his laptop, he left the room, leaving Connor to edit in peace.
–
"Will, what have you done!?" Luke exclaimed.
"What does it look like? I strapped tanks of Nitrox onto the bed of Scrap Box." Will explained.
"You know that if those tanks get scratched at all they'll explode, right?" Luke asked.
"That's the fun of it!" Will cried.
"Whatever, just stay away from me on the track." Luke sighed.
"You got it." Will said.
"How much Nitrox do you have anyways?" Luke asked.
"5500. 500 units is equivalent to one use." Will explained.
"Where would you ever need that much Nitrox!?" Luke exclaimed.
"You never know." Will shrugged off the question.
"Well, it's your funeral." Luke said. "Also, clean your garage sometime it looks like a bomb went off in here."
"It practically did. Did you not hear the explosions earlier?" Will asked.
"I was getting sleep. I also don't care, clean up occasionally dude!" Luke said. As Luke went to grab a broom for his messy companion, an alarm began to sound. As red lights turned on, he knew that a realm was opening! Bolting to his garage, Luke nearly ripped the door off of his rat rod and shoved his helmet onto his head. Looking back toward the Wheel of Power, the inner ring slammed into place. A square symbol on the side lit up.
–
"Another ambiguous symbol, shoot!" Aidan said. Pressing his ignition button, Mirror lit up. Placing his helmet onto his head, he pulled up to his slingshot, ready to race.
–
Ethan climbed into Beast. Placing his helmet on his head and shutting his door, he triple checked that he had his Accelecharger. Placing it onto the rack next to him, he pulled toward his slingshot, prepared for action.
–
Marie shut her door and placed her visor on her face. She wanted to win, but she wouldn't let greed take over her. Pulling up to her slingshot, a look of determination crossed her face. She would do her best, and win this realm.
–
As the second ring locked into place, Connor zipped up his jacket and put down the visor on his helmet. He was certainly ready. Pulling up to his slingshot, the anticipation was killing him. Where were they going this time? How bad would it be? Shaking his head, he stared at the final golden wheel, prepared for almost anything.
–
The final ring spun around one final time, before locking into place. As the three squares lit up, the portal opened in a flash of light and the seven drivers shot forward. Zooming up their respective ramps, they vanished into the realm, leaving behind the hum of energy from the portal.
–
A light blue rift tore open above an orange road in a gray tunnel, placing the septet into the realm, only for them to be greeted by a slew of entirely black cars barreling toward them. Aidan, foreseeing this, immediately swerved around the oncoming traffic, avoiding any car crashes. Pressing his Jump Jets, he jumped over the road barrier and landed on the right side of the multi-lane freeway.
"What the fuck is this!?" Ronnie cursed, rapidly moving around the incoming cars. Marie pressed her Jump Jets, joining Aidan and abandoning Ronnie. Will and Luke flipped a switch in their cars, deploying their plows. As cars were flung out of their way, Luke rammed the barrier, creating an opening for the other drivers.
Getting onto the right side of the laned orange road, the tunnel around them ended, letting them see the realm. The entire sky was yellow, and faded into orange. There were floating lights above the barrier of the road, and the track they were on led up to a huge floating city. They could visibly see tracks stretching around the huge buildings in the distance.
"A city realm?" Aidan asked.
"It could be, but the name could be 'City' or 'Metropolis' or something similar." Will said.
"Is nobody going to point out that these cars have no drivers?" Connor asked.
"I feel like we've all accepted the weirdness of the realms at this point. Driverless cars aren't that absurd." Ethan replied
"Fair enough." Connor said. As the freeway was surrounded by buildings, exits were made, connecting the freeway to the streets below. Seeing a traffic jam ahead on the freeway, the septet took the exit onto the streets and split up. Aidan, however, did not want to be followed, and used one of his new trump cards. Pressing a large silver button on his console, his car faded from view, turning completely invisible.
–
As the drivers began to explore the paved streets, wandering the city, a long set of garages opened. Identical gray semi-trucks with red-tinted windows emerged from their chambers, ready to be unleashed onto the streets.
–
"I think there is something wrong guys." Marie said over the radio. "This realm is too quiet. Driving on streets isn't difficult, and the other realms had constant challenges. There must be something mi-" Marie cut herself off with a scream as a huge gray semi-truck slammed into her side at full force. Being pushed toward a wall, she quickly shifted to reverse and got out of the truck's grasp. The speeding truck hit the wall and exploded. Marie stared at the remains of the truck, thankful that she reacted quickly, before continuing.
–
As Will drove along the streets, he was lost and annoyed at the pavement. His specialty was rougher terrain like ice or rock. Widely taking a corner, he was suddenly slammed by a semi-truck and exploded. The huge Nitrox explosion rang out across the realm, and Will vanished in a flash of light, being sent back to base a bit crisper than when he left.
–
As Aidan silently patrolled the streets, he thought that there had to be some shortcut. Most realms had one, some more obvious than others. If he could find it, he was almost sure to win. His eyes widened as he slammed his brakes. A gray semi-truck sped past him, only a foot away from barreling into his frail car.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked around, and spotted just what he was looking for. A Hyperpod with huge wheels and a segmented body. The Caterpillar Hyperpod. Driving up its spine and into the cockpit, he locked into place and turned off his Cloak, unveiling his chrome car in the cockpit. As the engine started, he drove the Hyperpod up a long ramp leading toward the freeway.
–
Connor drifted around a corner, narrowly avoiding a semi-truck and causing it to fall onto its side. They were surprisingly easy to trick. Coming to the end of a road that jutted out from the end of the city, Connor slid to a stop at the edge, getting a good look at the surrounding area. Spotting the freeway heading toward a separate, smaller city, he informed the drivers of his findings.
"I think I know where the end is. We have to get back on the freeway to get there." Connor explained.
"Good to know, but we'll have to find a way around the traffic jam on the freeway. Try to find the last possible entrance ramp guys." Luke stated. Connor looked back toward the city, seeing a semi-truck headed straight for him. Getting an idea, he shifted to reverse and waited. As the truck got closed, he quickly backed out of the way, letting the huge truck fall into the Yellow void below. Shifting back into gear, he drove off to look for the freeway.
–
It was safe to say Ronnie was lost. After passing a train, he started climbing what he assumed to be some parking garage to get a lay of the land. Reaching the top, it wasn't taller than most of the other buildings, giving him no help at all. However, he did see a red truck. Deciding that Ethan probably had a better sense of direction, he quickly drove back down and caught up to Beast.
"Hey wolf dude, you got any idea where the fuck we're supposed to go?" Ronnie asked.
"Somewhat. I'm kinda lost but I have an idea of where we're headed." Ethan replied.
"Mind if I tag along then? I'm lost as hell." Ronnie said.
"Sure. So ya know though, if I see the portal, I'm leaving you." Ethan stated.
"I'd do the same so we're even." Ronnie replied.
–
As Aidan reached the jammed freeway, he realized how the shortcut worked. The Caterpillar was being used like a monster truck, and the cars were the rugged terrain. Rolling over and partially crushing the driverless cars. Aidan slowly but surely made his way along. Reaching the end of the jam, the Hyperpod stopped, lowering the cockpit and ejecting the chrome car. With no vehicles ahead of him, Aidan got moving and pressed his Nitrox button, speeding off and leaving a trail of blue fire behind him. Leaving the edge of the city, he headed along the laned track to the smaller city.
–
Luke, Marie, and Connor found the farthest exit ramp they could, and drove back up the curved road to the freeway. Turning back onto the long laned track, they saw an abandoned Caterpillar Hyperpod and a line of crushed cars behind it.
"Looks like somebody had fun and beat us to the freeway." Luke said.
"Yea well let's catch up then!" Connor said, prompting the other two to press their Nitrox buttons. The trio rocketed down the freeway, leaving orange flames in their wake.
–
"I think I found it." Ethan said.
"Finally! Let's get the fuck out of this damn city!" Ronnie cried in relief. The duo ascended the exit ramp, coming up on the left side of the freeway. A single black car collided with Ronnie after he got off the exit ramp.
"Fuck shit! Where did that fucking car come from!?" Ronnie yelled in frustration.
"We're on the wrong side of the road Ronnie." Ethan explained.
"I-I-I knew that dumbass!" Ronnie lied. As the road ahead was now clear, the duo pressed their Nitrox buttons, speeding past a Caterpillar Hyperpod, and out of the big city.
–
As Aidan came into the final city he could see the portal through the buildings. Turning down and into a tunnel, he emerged from the floating city into a straight stretch of freeway leading to the portal. Pressing his Nitrox button, he sped toward victory as semi-trucks filled the city he just left. Ahead, the portal had the square realm symbol on its center, colored vibrant yellow. As the trio of Luke, Marie, and Connor entered the city behind him, he flew through the portal.
As the realm symbol vanished, a wave of energy was sent across the realm. The semi-trucks slowed to a halt, pulling over to the side of the road, and the lights above most of the track shut off, leaving only the correct path illuminated.
–
Flying out of the portal and landing in his launch bay, Aidan was almost disappointed. That realm was much too easy. Maybe the challenge was navigation, but even then the first half of the realm contained all the hard parts. Maybe something was missing? As he came to a stop he was broken out of his thoughts by a bright yellow light.
The Accelecharger for the realm materialized in the chrome car with a burst of light, the square realm symbol engraved on the front. The bottom read 'Metro', proving Will's theory of the realm name. Taking the cartridge in his hand, he held it next to his Storm realm Accelecharger, comparing them. Pocketing them, the remaining five drivers flew out of the realm, and the portal closed.
With the Wheel of Power spinning back to its closed state, Connor went to check the footage, Luke went to check on Will, Aidan wanted to discuss the realm, and everybody needed some rest.
–
The Siblings Music Playlist:
Aidan's Choice is: Escape from Beat Saber
Marie's Choice is: Blue Comet by AAAA
Enjoy!
–
W.C.F. Lore:
Researching Metro realm, I realized that about half of the difficulty is just dealing with the Sweeper, so the realm itself is kinda easy. I'll likely make it harder in the future. The Metro Realm Accelecharger is also (Objectively) one of the best and most applicable.
–
Will's Accelecharger Study:
"Hey Will, what does my new Accelecharger do?"
"After some basic testing, the Metro Realm Accelecharger generates a protective bubble-like shield around the vehicle, protecting it from hard and had great launching force when ramming into something."
"So its a shield?"
"Its both an immovable force and unstoppable object, the spear and the shield."
"Very cool. Does it have a name yet?"
"I've named it 'Battering Bubble'"
"Thanks for the help Will!"
–
While Metro is boring it has my favorite Accelecharger so that'll be fun. I also liked writing the Will exploding paragraph. Thankfully Will has many backups so he's alright. The next realm will be fairly fun to do, so expect that sometime next week or so. Well IDK what else to say here right now, so have a good day and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Realms: Turn Style