-- Drive to the Sunset -- DISCONTINUED

The way there wasn't so bad. It started off with jumping off chests, then to platforms, then to simple balance. But I can't let my guard off. There's bound to be some trick.

After copying the bartender's movements, we soon reached somewhere horrifying -- in a human's ability kind of way. In front of us lies nothing but a mile-long, 7-inches wide stone pipe. This is 10 times more than what I encountered when urban roaming. Time to set this obstacle aside.

"Don't worry, man. Just balancing as before." The bartender patted my shoulder, and welcomed me to go first.

"What!? Uggh.. fine." I swallowed a chunk of my saliva, and started.

My trick to balancing on these things is to constantly look forward, never look down. The intimidation will kill you, I always say. As a regular person would, I stretched out my arms to equalize weight, and step by step knock down a feet. But every feet knocked down, another replaces. The stone seemed to go on forever, and that intimidated me as much as looking down. I started to sweat and anxious, but I kept my cool. My eyes locked to the stone's end, hoping for it to end.

As soon as I was to faint from such conditions, I reached the other side, and dropped down to my knees in fatigue. I looked back to see where was the bartender. Now that show-off tries to run through it, and did it perfectly. Once he got to where I was, he was exactly like he was before we did all of this. I was too tired to curse. He brought me up, and tries to cheer me up saying,

"Don't sweat it! The rest is just climbing now. C'mon!"

He started first, and ascended up the wooden platforms to a seemingly weak stone platform, ready to break from its bolts and fall down to the Nothingness. He waved, flagging that was my turn. I exhaled, and began. Instinctively, everything I jumped on, and jumped off, they would never break. But the platforms shook as I jumped off and jumped on. Once I got to the stone one, the bartender grabbed hold of me so I wouldn't run off from the motion.

"Last part! Grabbed onto these zip-liners, and it should lead you there!"

I knew who's turn was is sequential, since now he beheld me to zip-line first. I had no contradiction, though, and had no hesitation to zip-line. After grabbing on a piece and pushing my weight forward, amazingly there was no traps, no tricks, no rusty components. Everything went smooth, until I suddenly let go, diving down to what should've been The End. But instead I landed in a huge pile of hay*, while the bartender came in to the party as well. I never felt so relieved in my life, and smiled when I extricated out of the hay-sack.

"Nice work!" He startled me once again, and dropped me back to my usual disposition.

"Alright, that should be it. I'll lead you to Amanda."

"Amanda?"

"Of course. I thought this was the reason why you did this trial."

"Oh.. Right.."

"I'll also answer any questions that has been boggling your mind ever since our encounter, as the way there is long."


As we stroll down the ruined hallway, lit up by just torches, I began our conservation,


(Note: Black is Minchel, Blue is the bartender)
"What is this Sacreds Group?"
"It is... very complicated. The organization's concepts are... incomprehensible to untrained minds."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly. I don't know what I meant, because you do not know what I meant. Your mind is untrained. When I actually explain it to you, it will destroy your thinking."
"I see..."
"Yes, unfortunately. But, there is one statement we recently created just for untrained minds. Here it goes. Listen closely."
"To put it terms you may understand, our origins trace back to the Nazi's surrender in 1945. A noble man named Hernchicrofer Halix still believed Hitler's own soul haunted the world since his suicide. And someday it will regain a German's own body to recreate The Holocaust. He wrote a plethora of books on this matter, discussing very, very strange... things. Our Group's earliest founders, a trio of a man and woman both named Faust & Ricka, managed to salvage these books when Halix suddenly vanished from the world."

"Unlike many... "mortals" to say, both of them had the ability to comprehend what Halix wrote in his books. It did took them several months to apply what they have learned. However they thought that the books can be simplified, and some parts modified to match realistic views. After many years of progression, they formed Our Holy Book, The Sanity Files. During the time, many things happened around the Earth, and recorded the trio's opinions based on applied knowledge of Halix's books. When they read through their masterpiece, they found a pattern on each major event. On each Section of the book lies a categorized major event. One Section named 'Natural Destruction', all seemed to have a pattern, and so did other sections. After careful observations, they made a conclusion under the 'Sanity Epilogues'. Unfortunately this conclusion was not qualified for untrained conversion, so I cannot tell you any more information. But what I can tell you is that the book itself, Halix's studies, was what made The Sacreds Group. And we are constantly evolving. The bad part was The Sanity Files was never finished, due to living beings having to die, and Faust & Ricka never bearing a child to pass it down. So we keep the book in constant updates."

"Umm... This is a lot to take in..."
"Yes, I know. Every FalseHood encountered the same perplexity."
"FalseHoods?"
"It is another name for our followers. The followers of The Sanity Files, and Halix's Volumes of Aftermaths (which is Halix's original studies). The name came from what we believed of. What we followed."
"But, why? Why follow it?"

He stopped at his previous step, and says,

"We are here."

There was a towering door, having a frightening yet simple design. Etched at the very center reads, "Good Never Follows Bad."

"Beyond this door is Amanda. Good luck."

Before I said goodbye, he ran off where we walked on. The torches' bright flames went out suddenly soon after. I grab the circle handle and pulled it, and the door screamed open. Now lies a beaming light onto a figure in a throne. The figure was Amanda.

"Have a seat." Amanda demands. I sat down in the throne adjacent to her.

"What the hell's going on, Amanda!?" Maybe not the most pleasant initial conversation, but literally there was a fire burning in my brain waiting to burst.

"Calm down, Minchel! Gosh.." She sighed. Good thing she's actually the Amanda I know. She always had a unique way to sigh.

"Look Amanda. Tell me what's going own, okay?"

"Alright, alright, jeez... As Embers -- the bartender -- claims, I am a Sacreds member or a FalseHood."

"Okay.. Why didn't you ever tell me this??" I raised my voice, creating an echo in the room.

"Quiet down, stupid! There's Study Shrines around us."

"What!?" I screamed out, a higher tone than my previous one. Then Amanda slapped me in the face. Hard.

"I said, quiet down! My god Minchel..."

I rubbed the pain off, but it kept coming back. But I was used to this amount of pain. It's basically a poke to me.

"...Sorry, Amanda. I'm just... 'conditional'... of what's going on.."

"It's okay, Minchel. Sorry I had to act violently. Study Shrines require the highest of concentration, and disruptions will cause skewed thinking."

"...No prob... Now please, Amanda.. Explain yourself.."

"Okay... Where to start..... Since Embers already fill you in the Concept of The Sacreds Group, it's time for my reasoning of why I joined. Or rather, invited."

She continued, while the pain slowly grasp away into the air,

"Do you remember when a desperate hobo asked me to find his Keys for his makeshift house one day?"

"Umm... Yes. You forced to dumpster-dive many times.."

She chuckles, "Yeah.. Eventually we found it and gave it to the man. He then rewarded me a floral letter, and walks off."

"Oh yeah.. You never did told me what was in that letter.."

"It was actually an Invitation. It said to meet here, 25th of Smogt. And now, here I am."

"But wait, why join? Why spent so long to hide this from me?"

"First of all, your memory's busted, because the helping-out-the-hobo event happened a month ago. And second of all, it was not my decision to join. It was an invitation."

"Still, why hide it?"

"I waited for the right moment to tell you. The right time to repair this ripped yarn we call A Life into normal shape. The right time to take control of Franschfurt."

"Wait a minute... You mean Franschfurt is--"

"Yep, he's one of our targets. In fact he's Number One on our Tainted Bodies List, which contains the most negative creatures possible to walk over the Earth."

"But Franschfurt just runs the GT Worldwide, nothing else. Yes he is a bad man, but I'm not sure how he'll be a supreme target.."

"If you know our Beliefs -- which are incomprehensible to you, we have to take control of this man. Because we believe that he may have The Fragments."

"The Fragments?"

"Oh yes, I forgot! The Fragments were once joined together to form an immensely powerful object -- to be precise, a race car. However little is known about this race car, and so we have been hunting down The Fragments since we suddenly found one on one of the Tainted Bodies. Our Diminishers -- Researchers in untrained terms, try to dissolve this uncertainty."

"And how about your reason to join -- err.., invite yourself here?"

"Well, The Mentors here mentioned that I had a Mind of Halix, a quite gifted ability that little of people can possess. This let me understand the books Halix wrote more quickly, and other small things."

"One last question--"


I got interrupted by a figure in a long robe, with a cape on one side of his shoulder. The hoodie made any facial examination pointless. Once he got to Amanda, he bowed similar to a monk, and reports,

"Sorry Amanda, but you have a mandatory meeting with Mentor Rarrama. He is in the West Wing."

"Thanks, Embers."

Before Embers (at least, what Amanda claimed to be) walked to the grand door, he turned to me in a frightening way, and says,

"Welcome to 25th of Smogt, Minchel."

Now that me and Amanda were alone again, I resumed my interrogation. But before even I opened my mouth, Amanda excuses herself, but orders,

"Since you are new here, you have to talk to Embers about Life & Aftermaths Ceremony, in the Oculus Wing. That will make you an official Sacreds member, kay?"

I looked down to my shredded hands from the trials earlier. Then Amanda's soft hands reach out and grabbed them, adjoining them with hers.

"Don't worry, Minchel! Everything's gonna be fine. Once you're done you can take a nice drive in the real world!"

She let go gently, and left. I got up, and didn't bother asking FalseHoods of where the Oculus Wing was. Simple roaming is enough to direct me to it. And besides, a calming cruise will rid of this confusion..

After countless hours of waiting, a nurse came out of the Emergency Wing, and reported,

"Your dear friend Carl will be fine. Unfortunately his injury is a serious fracture, and will take a long time to fully heal. Until then he'll be unable to properly speak."

I nodded. At least it wasn't permanent.

"Does he have any parents or guardians? We need to see them immediately."

For some reason, I was tempted to lie. To say that he has no parents. Then I spurred out,

"No, he doesn't."

"Oh. That explains you bringing him here.." She continues,

"Well, does he have any relatives near the area?"

I lied further. He did had a grandmother living in the rural side of the city, but...

I shook my head.

"I see... So, you take care of him?"

"I guess.."

"Hmph. To make sure you're not toying with me, we had to look up his Registry in the computer.."

Before she approached the so-called Computer, I had to tell her the truth.

"No! I was... lying... He does have parents, a relative near the area. I'm not his 'guardian'..."

She turned around, and scolded,

"Why in the blast would you lie?"

"I don't know.."

A long pause presents before the conversation. Something that is very awkward to me.. Then she says,

"Alright... Do you know his parent's phone numbers? If so, can you call them in?"

"Sure.."

She walked back to the Emergency Wing, while I upholster my cell and ringed up Carl's Mom. After a short while, her voice came up,

"Hello?"
"Umm, hi Carl's Mom. This is Horowitz."
"Horowitz? Where have you been, mister!? Your Mom is worried, and I am furious!"
"I'm sorry.. Something went down between us two and a random stranger, and now he's being treated in the hospital.."
"He's what!? I'm going down right now!"

She hung up, while I prepare for the worst in the next few minutes.

"What did she say?" The nurse asks, at the same time working on the computer.

"She said she's coming ASAP."

"Excellent. And don't worry, I won't mention your attempted lies."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"May I ask, how did he receive such a fracture? Our X-Rays show that it could have been caused by blunt force."

"Personal matters... Then a man pulled him up and beat him in the face."

"Oh. I see... If you remember what his facial recognition is, we can report him to the authorities."

"I don't think so.. I can't remember much.." I lied. It was pointless otherwise. I'd rather not spend a month just to "take action."

"Alright.."

After a few minutes of more waiting, Carl's Mom bursted right through the slide doors, and immediately spotted me. She had the face of a murderer, and a mourner. Then somehow she cooled down & instead spoke to the Nurse. The tone of the conversation was too low, so I couldn't eavesdrop. At the end she did pointed her to where I was, probably to wait. I armed myself with a random magazine as she got closer and closer. Then I felt a tug, and suddenly let go. She snatched the magazine, set it on the end table, and sat down.


"Okay. Forget the punishments, the frightening looks. Let's just... talk."

"Splendid..." I responded, in a strange high-pitch voice. Thank god she didn't notice.

"What happened?"

I told her everything. From the personal moments, to the accident.

"Oh -- Oh my.. That's terrible!"

The Nurse gladly jumped in, "Do not worry, Miss. Carl will be just fine. Just a small fracture." Now she's lying, but in a positive way.

"That's... That's greats news..." She ushered in great relief.

Weirdly a long silence emerged. Then minutes later, Carl's Mom butted in.

"Horowitz, I know how much you miss your father. Your Mom knows, your little brother knows." I was tempted to ask where my Mom is, but I told myself to hold it in for now.

"But you have to let it go, Horowitz. It's too many years since then. You can't have his death haunt your disposition forever."

"No! I won't!" I knew I had honor for my Dad. No other boy was brave enough to disrespect a best friend's Mom before.

"My Dad meant everything to me! I will never leave his side! Never!" I bursted into tears, but tried to fight it. Slowly.

I felt a soft, warm touch on my shoulder, and a voice crept in,

"Horowitz..."

I got up, while still having my head directed to the ground & away from Carl's Mom, I ran to the exit, but I smashed into a cushion absorbing enough to just dizzy me around instead of landing flat on the tiled ground. When I got myself together my Mom lies before me, with Thompson at her hand. The vision was too crystallized to see them clearly. Mum walked over and held me tight.

"Horowitz, what's the matter?"

I let go from her strong clutches, wiped away the tears, and answered,

"N... nothing..."

"Do not lie to me, young man."

"Talk to... Carl's Mom..."

The Nurse from before then bursted out of the Emergency Room, and surprisingly, Carl himself, in deep slumber, on a comfy wheelchair right beside her. Carl's Mom ran over instantly but the Nurse warned,

"Please do not interrupt Carl in his deep sleep, Miss. He must recover from his surgical medication."

"...Surgical Medication..?" Carl's Mom asks.

"Yes, ma'am. In order for the fracture to properly be repaired, he had to consume special medication. The medication can last for a max of 72 Hours. He will awaken sometime tonight. We will distribute the instructions required to allow the medication to properly carry out its functions. Make sure to follow this handed document. When the 72 Hours are finished, immediately escort dear Carl here for further treatment."

"That's excellent.."


While they carried out their business, My Mom and me still had our business: My punishment. But, it was something else more meaningful.

"Horowitz... I think your little brother has something to give you."

Thompson strolled over miles below my height, and held out a strange object in his hands.

"A Star. For you."

You certainly did not look like a star. The spokes were too irregular, but it was the best effort I've seen from Tommy-boy.

"So... umm... What is this supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well son, it means Endless Health to my terms." She smiled.

I wanted to shed tears of joy, but sadly I'm out of Pain water*

"Good news! Carl's going to be fine!" Carl's Mom fantastically reports.

"Of course he will be! That's what always happens in Hospitals!" Mum smirks.

"But mommy, I thought people always die in Hospitals." Thompson points out.

"You need to stop watching TV, mister!"

All of us joined in a long laugh. Now, it felt like nearly all of the pain just... washed away. I felt so much better.



When we said goodbye to Carl's Mommy in their Nissan Pathfinder, I can tell My Mum had not forgotten my punishment.

"When we get home, you know what to do." She made an angry face, but sneaked in a wink. Then exchanged small smiles.

As usual, I sat shotgun, while whinny Tommy sat in the back of the Skyline Coupe. Then drove off in the starry night.

Wait, racing karts and Corvettes to discovering a secret race sci-fi stuff?

Cowboys965

Wait, racing karts and Corvettes to discovering a secret race sci-fi stuff?

Click to expand...

All will be revealed. In time.

"Oh, hi there Minchel! How was the ceremony?"
"Good.. Experienced a lot worse though."
"That's what our Initiates always say. But I feel like you're serious."
"I am serious."
"Hmph..."
"What?"
"Amanda told me what you are like."
"Oh? What did she mention?"
"You have cold blood. Not in a murderer kind of blood, of course."
"'Cold blood?'"
"Mm-hmm. Oddly she said it in the exact same tone."
"Amanda's always like to talk behind my back..."
"Amanda didn't meant it in a bad way, Minchel. You just lack....."
"Lack what?"
"You lack... integrity, to say as."
"What are you saying? I can't manage anything?"
"No, not at all! You just have an odd sense of the world, Minchel."
"Hmph. I do..."
"To be honest, I wished the world didn't plummet into this ugly form. War in the Middle East, the Americas eating up global funding. The minds in this century lack that true provision in the age that is long gone.."
"I understand, Minchel. But what happened happen, and you can't go back in time Minchel."
"Uggh... you are just like everyone else. Only Amanda understands, and I doubt you or the entire cult will."

I walked to the adjacent side of the balcony, the balcony which was used for scoping. The sun fell into the forest on the horizon, and an eagle circles beyond our reach. A gust conveniently came in, pulling off old hair from my head.

"Minchel, I don't think you comprehend the ceremony's segments."
"What?"
"The Priest reads out a noble statement from Halix, as follows--"
"Spare me the lecture."
"It isn't a lecture, Minchel."
"Fine. Go ahead."
"Alright. Ahem,

We are loved.
We are redoubts.
We are not to who we are.
We are simply minds.
Complicated in a damned system.

Rings a bell?"
"Yes."
"If you were to pay attention, those stanzas play something in your mind now does it?"
"No. It doesn't at all."
"What? I don't understand, it should've--"

Suddenly something flashed in the distance, and everything went dark. Then a huge figure, miles from my height came up to me. The figure threw a very bright white orb. To me. Then everything went black again, snapping back to reality.

"I can see that it worked."
"What in the bloody hell was that!?"
"What color orb did he threw at you?"
"What!? A white one!"
"White? This is peculiar..."
"Tell me what was that about!"
"Pipe down! Meet me in my Studies. It's off the hall from the Oculus Wing. I need to talk to you about this, but I need my library to do so."

Before I can enrage further, he already ran into the cavern entrance, and I ran right behind him.





"Now where's the Halix Volumes..."

I waited impatiently in a cushion chair, gritting my teeth until it shattered into pieces.

"Ah-ha! Here it is! Now I just need the Umong Lux volume..."
"Come on!!"
"Read a book while I'm searching! Great, I lost my tracks!"

I looked at the end table next to me, and there was a small, chapter-size book. I examined the cover. It had nothing on it. I opened it. Still nothing. I flipped through. Still nothing.

"What the...?"
"Huh!? Oh! Found it!"

I put the book down, and saw him laying it down on some sort of strange table. He grabbed a small needle and literally swiped it over his arm, drawing blood onto the already-raggedy surface. Light then blew out from that same spot, and soon the entire table & immediately was sucked into the book at the center.

"What in the world was that!?"
"Alrighty...."

I can tell he whispered to himself. Then I had a feeling that I can unleash a similar thing on this blank book. Obviously it has some sort of knowledge or thoughts in here. There was another needle on the same end table. So I grabbed it and swiped a small cut on my finger, the blood flying on the cover.

"What are you doing!? That's disgusting!"
"Sorry."
"Okay, I found the meaning of the white orb. But wait a minute... I can't read it to you, nor to yourself! It's incomprehensible to your mind!"
"What?"
"You know what, Minchel? Since you wanted to cruise, why don't you go down to the Nurburgring & practice? We have a big task for you there later on."
"Uhhh... sure."
"You can take my BMW M3 GTR situated in the Car Lot. The keys is... right here!"

He dared threw it to me, and which I missed horribly. Hated catching things...

"You catch worse than my son!"
"You have a son?"
"I shouldn't have said that... Now go enjoy yourself! Don't worry about responsibility and all of that! I can conjure those BMWs like it's pure air!"
"W-what?"
"It is bound to the track though. Now get going! Also, make sure you meet a sweet young lady named Santri. She should be in the paddocks."

All I really cared about is driving, perhaps racing. Before I got up though he shot some sort of spell onto me, making me land in the Car Lot. I looked around for the GTR, and there it was. I ran into it, unlocked it, and just melted onto the seat. I started the baby up and drove off to where Nurburgring is, surprisingly a couple of miles from where this ridiculous 25th of Smogt is.

DK

I'm surprised that cult doesn't hide behind black monoliths with the words "SOUND ONLY" written on them...nice chapter. 👍

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NERV reference 👍

I'm quite considering to cancel this fan fic and start a new one.. To be honest I don't like the way how I led the story to. I wrote each Chapter without thinking very much and I feel quite terrible about it.. I dunno, maybe I'm just changing ideas here and there a lot. Perhaps I'll need to read other people's fan fics on this forum to understand a bit more on story writing. Plus no one really responds on my fan fic anyways, nor much of a fan of my writing.

Technicolors

The man was Philippine from the looks of it. "That will be 2 dollars, sir." My god, he even sounds like a Philippine.

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It's Filipino or Pinoy.

Phillipine might be right but doesn't sound correct...

Zach

It's Filipino or Pinoy.

Phillipine might be right but doesn't sound correct...

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Oh, thanks. I was looking for a certain word that fits the sentence more 👍

DK

^ It's your story, do what you want to do.

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I know, but I wished I didn't really rushed through the story.