Realms: Space-Lined
As the simulator stopped, a man with a black scruffy beard and orange poncho stepped out. After having to EDR in the last realm, Luke decided that maybe he simply wasn't trying hard enough. He won the first race back in Highway 35 and had yet to win again. Maybe his car was too situational, or maybe as a stunt driver he lacked real racing skills.
Regardless of the answer he decided a good answer was to use the simulator to race the old realms again to improve. After racing each realm three times, he only made top five in Storm, Lava, and Metro, but two of them were thanks to memory and only Lava felt earned. Top five wasn't going to cut it though, you had to be first, and five out of seven was not great anyway.
If he could just get his first Accelecharger it would be easier to get more, or maybe he could make a new car instead. If he didn't win soon he probably would. Shutting down the system, Luke decided to stop thinking pessimistically for the time and get some food.
–
"Ethan, what are you looking at?" Connor asked his team-mate as he sat down with his food.
"An Acceleron language book. Aidan was complaining that we couldn't read the symbols on the Wheel so I asked the Acceleron for a translation book." Ethan explained, putting down the thick book.
"Are you going to share?" Connor said, partially interested.
"When I'm done." Ethan replied. He closed the book and began to eat. He could read some of the symbols on the Wheel at a glance so far, but some of them were still beyond him. Although symbols like 'Blizzard', 'Labyrinth', and 'Reactor' did not instill confidence in him. "How did the Ice realm footage do?"
"Better, but I'm thinking of having Will make camera drones for better shots. Dash cams can only do so much." Connor admitted.
"Good idea. He'll probably agree to help." Ethan said and nodded. "If he's not busy."
–
Across the building, Will sneezed and over tightened a screw, accidentally stripping it. "Well shit." Tearing off the ruined screw, Will grabbed a fresh one from a box to his left. Tightening the fresh screw onto the cylindrical object in front of him, he stood up and stepped back. "Time to test." He said to nobody.
Pressing a button on his forearm to turn on his log, he moved behind a sturdy metal wall. "Experiment log, third test of the 'Thruster' commencing. Starting in three, two, one!" He pressed a comically large red button on a remote that looked like it was torn from a cartoon and the jet engine across the room began to spin up and release a steady stream of flames.
"Stable so far, increasing power." Will said into his recorder before turning a dial, causing the engine to grow louder and shake slightly while the flames increased in intensity. "Good, but needs more stability, increasing power more." He said, turning the dial further. The flames enlarged and the huge engine started smoking and the metal started to heat up. Some of the screws turned red.
"Crap, turning down power!" Will said frantically, turning down the dial drastically. The engine and flames calmed down before stopping as smoke poured out of the machine. "Test unsuccessful, but nothing exploded. Higher successful percentage than before but not complete. Log end." Will pressed another button, turning off his wrist log.
Walking over to the engine he grabbed the fire extinguisher and quickly sprayed down the metal. Opening a hatch, the circuitry inside was fried. "Guess it needs better insulation and heat exhaustion." He said to himself.
Closing the hatch, he walked over to his desk, scribbling down some notes. After looking at his blueprint, which was now a black and blue print, he put his head on his desk and closed his eyes. Resting his eyes for a bit couldn't hurt after all.
–
"What are hell you two watching?" Ronnie asked his friends after being awoken by an explosion sound.
"Some guys are trying to replicate the realm tracks in a racing game, it's kinda cool." Marie said.
"They're accurate too. It's not perfect but it's a good adaptation." Aidan added.
"Well turn it down or I'll buy an orphanage and burn it down after evacuating everybody so I can't get sued." Ronnie threatened. Aidan turned the volume down.
"That's oddly specific." Marie pointed out. Ronnie shrugged. "I've thought of doing stranger things for fun. I'm gonna go back to sleep." He replied. As he turned back to his room, the lights turned red and an alarm blared. A realm was opening.
Shutting off the TV, the trio got moving. Ronnie changed outfits in a minute, while Aidan and Marie made sure they had their Accelechargers. Bolting to their garages, with Ethan and Connor just behind them, they split up to get ready.
"Kana, start Mirror and the cameras." Aidan said as he reached his bay. Grabbing his helmet as his car started, courtesy of Kana, he placed his Accelechargers in their slots.
As the drivers prepared, the inner ring of the Wheel of Power slammed into place. The symbol was a horizontal rectangle, but the right side was missing, and the right side of the top line curved up. Looking at the symbol, Ethan didn't recognize it, and it didn't look like a universal symbol to Aidan.
While the second ring slammed into place, Will quickly strapped huge tanks of Nitrox onto his vehicle. 'It backfired last time, but the second time's a charm!' He thought. Securing the tanks, Will leapt into his vehicle and pulled the ignition lever.
In another bay, Luke locked into his slingshot. Another chance, but could he win? 'Not the time for doubt, let's win for once!' He hyped himself up.
As the final ring spun around and stopped in its place, the portal opened, and seven cars flung themselves into the light.
–
A light blue rift tore open, surrounded by a dark sky filled with stars. As the racers flew out, led by Ronnie and Marie, they landed on the inside of a blue-gray pipe instead of a track. The pipe was covered in angular blue-white neon lights.
"I have absolutely nothing, this realm could be called anything and I'd believe it." Aidan said, looking around.
"My best guess is something to do with pipes or lights. I see what looks like space in my rear view though. I can't think of anything coherent so far." Will added his two-cents.
The pipeline was nearly straight, curving slightly back and forth. The racers drove slowly, unsure of the dangers, when a portion of the floor was missing in front of them. Marie and Ronnie couldn't break in time, and fell through the floor. Seeing this, the other five drove on the walls to pass the hole.
Marie and Ronnie didn't EDR however. They both pressed their magnet buttons, causing them to suction to the outside of the pipe. Looking around, the realm looked like a mess of pipes in space. They looked identical from the outside, but they all seemed to lead in the same direction. Portions of the pipes were missing.
"That was too close." Marie said.
"Way to fucking close." Ronnie replied.
"Looks empty out here. Maybe if we stay out here we'll reach the end quicker."
"An alternate path. I like it." The two drove around to the top of the pipe and continued on above their peers.
–
"I think I see the realm gimmick now. We can drive on every surface or angle but some parts of the pipe may be missing or have other obstacles." Will said.
The bottom of the pipe returned, letting the drivers obey gravity again, but Luke saw opportunity. If he couldn't turn, then he could speed through a turn with the walls.
As the quintet passed an opening that came from another pipe, they realized that there was probably more than one pipe. Splitting up would be likely, but how likely was it that every pipe led to the end? Speeding down the straight pipeline, Nitrox was an appealing idea, but they refused to use it. It could be needed more elsewhere.
Speeding up and seeing no missing sections of pipe, the pipeline turned harshly to the right. Luke, testing his theory drove up the left wall, the centripetal force flinging him around the turn without any speed loss. Seeing this, Aidan followed his example, but it was clear that Luke held the speed advantage in this realm.
As the pipeline straightened out again, the metal ahead began to shift, and a door began to shut in the distance. Speeding up, the drivers sped toward the moving metal. If the pipeline closed, they would be forced to EDR. As Luke and Aidan pulled ahead, Ethan, Will, and Connor sped along behind them.
Will decided that he had Nitrox to spare, and pressed a red button. As he gained a massive burst of speed and drained 500 of his 5500 Nitrox 2. Speeding up behind Luke and Aidan, the three of them comfortably passed under the door.
Connor pulled in front of Ethan, the two of them creating extra speed by drafting with each other. Speeding up to the rapidly shutting metal, Ethan's high truck barely scraped under it, before closing behind them with a loud slam.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the drivers noticed that the surrounding pipeline and lights were now orange, and that the pipeline was now shrinking. The pipeline got tighter, but not unbearably so. Looking ahead, the pipeline split into three. Left, Right, and Straight. Luke drove straight, while Aidan, Ethan, and Connor drove right and Will turned left.
–
Outside the pipeline, the magnetic duo moved with the pipeline. They couldn't make use of inside lines very well so they weren't going very fast, but there were no obstacles so far. As the pipeline shrunk under them, they saw the pipeline begin to branch ahead of them.
"Which way are ya headed Marie? I'm sticking with you." Ronnie said.
"I'm going straight. I think the pipes lead to the same place. I can see them converge in the distance." Marie replied.
–
Aidan, Ethan, and Connor looked at the straight pipeline ahead. It was simple, too simple. There had to be obstacles here.
Confident in his ability and with the speed advantage, Aidan pulled ahead, centering himself in the pipeline then a wedge popped up in front of him.
His Clairvoyance didn't see the wedge as threatening so Aidan was surprised and didn't react in time. As he flew up the wedge he would have hit the ceiling, if there wasn't a pipe entrance right where he landed. Calming down, he sped off up the tunnel.
Ethan and Connor looked ahead. More wedges were popping up. Some were ramps, others were walls, but they all had realm symbols on their sides.
The two began swerving between the wedges, quickly turning back and forth as more pieces of the pipe popped up. Connor swung up the wall, avoiding a large group of wedges while Ethan ramped over a small wall of them.
'I wonder if the other drivers are dealing with this too.' Ethan thought.
–
On top of the pipeline, Marie and Ronnie saw that a section of pipe looped back on itself. Deciding she could use this, Marie turned off her Magnets for a few seconds and drove off the pipeline.
As she neared the pipe below her, she turned them back on, skipping a section of track. Ronnie saw this, and followed her example. Maybe this way was easier.
–
The wedges stopped popping up around Ethan and Connor as the pipeline turned harshly to the right. As the duo took the turn, a door ahead of them started to close.
"Drafting will save us Nitrox. Ethan, follow behind me closely." Connor said. Ethan pulled up behind the blue car, and their speed increased as the airflow around them improved.
Speeding toward the door, they passed it with a second to spare, as they heard it shut behind them. The pipeline turned back to blue-gray, and another door started shutting at the end of the pipeline. They continued drafting off each other, passing the door narrowly yet again, and the pipeline turned sharply right before vanishing.
Panicking, Connor quickly grabbed his Swamp realm Accelecharger, and placed it into the port. His car glowed a murky green and as the pipeline vanished beneath them, a vine road began to sprout under Connor.
Ethan took extreme care to closely follow his team-mate, as Connor swirly guided him to an open pipe on the other side of the gap. Glancing around, Ethan saw that the realm was a mess of pipes in space, but there was still gravity. Chalking it up to Acceleron magic, Connor reached the other side.
As the duo was safely on solid pipe again, Connor removed his Accelecharger from the port, causing his car to stop glowing and the vine road to quickly wither and decay.
–
Marie could not entirely believe what she was seeing. Hundreds, no, THOUSANDS of pipelines all converged on each other in the distance, all leading into a huge sphere. From her angle, most of the pipes were on her side. The other side of the sphere looked to only have about ten or so branches that only branched into a round twenty-five pipelines total. The end had to be past that sphere.
"I'm not seeing things, right Marie? I know when I've been drinking but I haven't drunk yet today." Ronnie asked, concerned he was hallucinating. If there were this many pipelines, then if there were multiple Wheels of Power would they all start somewhere unique? This realm became more insane with each second they drove in it.
"I see it too. The other side has less pipes. We'll drive to the other side and find an opening in a pipe then and take the win." Marie said, calming down her questionably moral team-mate.
"Who gets the Accelecharger if we reach the end?"
"We can share."
"Sounds fair."
–
Luke could no longer tell which way was up. Turned in so many directions and he had to change which side of the pipe he was on if he wanted to keep his precious speed. He felt like he had driven through a blender.
As Luke flung through another turn a door opened and he flew out of the pipe and I to a huge empty sphere. As the door quickly shut behind him, he fell down the side of the space, picking up speed, he looked around.
There were holes in the sphere which seemed to be doors. It was too dark to discern much else, as the Neon lights that illuminated the pipes were missing here. As Luke circled the space again, a door opened briefly, and a silver car flew into the space.
As Aidan regained control, another door opened, and a junky truck slowly slid out of another door and down the sphere sideways, before straightening out.
"Oh hey Luke. Stuck here?" Aidan asked.
"Partially. I haven't been here long but I don't know which doors lead out." Luke responded.
"Well I can solve that." Will stated. He grabbed his Cavern realm Accelecharger, and placed it into a port. Immediately, his car began to glow orange-yellow, and he could see everything in the room like it was a bright summer day.
Another door opened on one side of the sphere, but it closed again after a blue rally car and a red truck flew out of it. A door opposite the previous door opened briefly, for about ten seconds, then closed again.
"The doors on this side are exit doors. Only one opens at a time, and only for a few seconds." Will said, driving over to the other side of the sphere.
Taking out his Accelecharger, his car stopped glowing. As he drove over, a door opened in front of him, sending him plummeting down the blue-gray neon-lit pipeline.
"Did ya solve the puzzle already?" Ethan asked.
"Yep, this side has exit doors." Aidan answered as a door opened to his right. Turning quickly, he fell down, spiraling before he corrected himself as the door shut behind him.
–
After some difficulties, Marie and Ronnie managed to get onto the sphere. Driving over it, they came down the other side, quickly looking over the available pipes.
"I can see they all connect together in the distance. Looks like the middle left pipe is the fastest path that has an opening." Marie said.
"Why don't we just take the shortest path overall?" Ronnie asked.
"The portal is probably inside. We don't know if the end of the pipeline will be open, so we should take an opening that we know exists."
"Ah, yea. I-I knew that, I was just testing ya."
"Sure Ronnie, whatever you say." The magnetized duo slowly accelerated onto their pipe of choice and took off.
–
As Will raced down his pipeline, he remembered that he still had 5000 Nitrox left. Deciding it was worth burning for speed, he pressed the red button. His engine roared as Nitrox flowed into it, and he left scorch marks along the pipe as he sped forward.
Coming to a turn, he cut his Nitrox flow with about 3000 units left. Deciding to hold it for now, he swung onto the wall to avoid falling into space.
–
Aidan knew the importance of Nitrox. It was very useful, but more so in realms like this. He was sure the others were using their second injection of Nitrox but he only had two. He wanted to save it for the final stretch.
"Aidan, I hear something above us." Kana warned him. As a section of the pipeline's roof was missing ahead, Aidan moved to the side. Looking to the left, he saw Marie and Ronnie fly in through the roof.
"Marie? Ronnie? I thought you two had to EDR." Aidan said, confused.
"We used our Magnets. We've been on the outside of the pipelines. It looks crazy from outside." Marie explained.
"Yea, and we're gonna share the Accelecharger if we win!" Ronnie said, a grin plastered on his face.
"Then you gotta beat me for it!" Aidan said with a smirk as he pulled ahead of his teammates.
"Wait NO THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Ronnie shouted as he quickly pressed a red button, causing him to burst forward with speed. Seeing this, Marie used her Nitrox to catch up.
–
Connor flew along the blue-gray pipe, but he struggled to keep his speed very high. An unorthodox track like this one wasn't good for drifting, and didn't have off-road so he could excel.
Turning to the left, he had only a second to react, as Will's Scrap Box collided with him, triggering Will's large Nitrox tanks to detonate and automatically activating their EDR's.
In a flash of light, and with a loud bang, Will and Connor, still in his car, were swiftly ejected from the realm and out of danger.
'There goes my chance, damn it!' Connor thought.
–
There was only ten minutes left until the realm closed. Ethan knew the end had to be close, but he was distracted. The side of his pipe opened, revealing the colorful space outside. He wished he could stop and just stare for a while.
The pipeline closed as he continued to drive, snapping him out of his awe. The pipeline turned up and around, forcing Ethan to play with his truck's weight to not fall from the ceiling. When this was over, he was going over the footage immediately.
–
After Luke fell he came into what he thought was a vertical loop. He couldn't really tell, as the pipe was closed and gravity felt optional. Swinging with the pipe to maintain his speed, he flew along the orange pipe.
Luke flipped around the pipeline as it connected into another pipe, this one larger and blue-gray. After correcting himself, he kept going. He passed other pipe connections.
'If the pipes are connecting, the end must be near.' He thought. As the pipeline turned quickly right, then left, it became straight.
There. At the end of the pipeline, the portal sat, untouched. The realms symbol was still there, neon green in color. As the pipeline expanded, a section of the floor remained elevated, a perfect path to the end, but the realm had one more trick.
The walls of the pipeline sported huge round fans, and were blowing air down the pipe. As Luke got closer, he could feel his car slowing down.
'I won't let this slip away!' He thought, determined to win. He flipped a switch, deploying a metal plow on the front of his rat rod. The airflow around him improved, but he was still being slowed by the winds.
He had one option, one shot left to win the realm. Pressing a red button, his engine rattled as he used the rest of his Nitrox. The jet on the back of his car erupted with flames, sending him forward and forcing him through the winds.
He felt the wind around his car die down as he passed the fans, and sped straight up to the portal. As he reached it, he vanished in a flash of light. As the realm symbol vanishes, a burst of energy swept across the realm.
The open sections of the pipe immediately closed, and a set of lights emerged from the pipes, guiding drivers to the end of the pipes. The fans turned off and the realm was finally quiet.
–
As Connor started to move the remains of his vehicle back to his garage, a flash of light came from the portal. Turning around he saw Luke's car fly into his bay in one piece. Shaking his head, he kept moving the scorched scraps of his 2006 Subaru.
–
Luke came to a stop in his bay. He had actually done it. He won a realm. As he finally processed his victory, a flash of neon green filled his car, and the realms Accelecharger appeared before him. Taking the cartridge, he checked the bottom, where the name was.
'Neon Pipeline. What a strange but true name for a realm.' He thought to himself. He'd have to have Will help him discover what it did. With this Accelecharger, he'd surely win more.
With several flashes of light signifying that the other drivers had left the realm, Luke pulled into his garage. The portal remained open for another minute, before shutting and spinning back to its dormant state. Now that everybody had an Accelecharger, things were bound to get hectic.
–
Aidan's Music Playlist:
this chapter's music choice is: Chip Zeal by Big Giant Circles. Enjoy!
–
W.C.F. Lore:
The Neon Pipeline realm is the only realm that is never named in the show, all the other realms are either named by Tezla or have headers like Cavern. The realm skill is Drafting, but that requires multiple people, so Nitrox is used to beat the need for speed and airflow.
–
Will's Accelecharger Study:
"So, did you find out what the Accelecharger does yet?"
"I did, congratulations by the way. The Neon Pipeline Accelecharger allows the user to drive at any angle flawlessly."
"So..."
"So you could drive on walls or the ceiling with ease. It's like a very strong magnet on the bottom of your car, certainly stronger than the ones Marie and Ronnie have. I have named it 'Wall-crawl'"
"I see. Thanks Will."
"No problem, now shoo. I have an engine to test and I don't want you to explode."
–
I'm still alive. With school and holidays and procrastination this took a while. I looked back on some old chapters and found a few things. First, grammatical errors, which I will eventually fix, and that I haven't been keeping the characters in character. I revised the entire chapter to fix dialog so the characters should feel more distinct. I decided to try something with the dialog here too, I hope it made sense. I'm still writing this story, I'm actually excited to work on the next chapter. Expect more eventually. Have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Realms: Metal Crusher