Cytranear: Chapter 6: Living Bad Dreams [01/07/14]

[Skython]

Now, this fic name may be familiar (because if you entered the GT5 race reports section, it would be), and it may be weird that I'm simply starting a new thread rather than getting a mod to move the original. But I'm starting a new one because I'm actually rewriting/remastering it. Making it easier to read and getting rid of issue. I'm also adjusting details about it all. So pretty much it's enough of a change to make a new thread. And plus, it's been so long since I've been consistent with my fic that everyone has forgotten it.

This time around I'm taking feedback from last time and using it to make things better. The story has new sections added throughout chapters that were released in the GT5 version. So even if you are ancient, and read it all that time ago, you better read again to refresh your memory and get up to date.

The goal with this fic is to create something accessible. I have the issue so often with other people's fics where I'd like to read them and comment and all. But there's so many sub-plots and 7 billion sequels, prequels and wequels and I just don't have the time. With this I hope to avoid all of that, and just make something people can just read.

Chapter 1: Introductions Part I (27/01/14) (look below)
Chapter 2: Introductions Part II (14/01/14) (a couple of posts below)
Chapter 3: Rock Bottom (02/03/14) (Still on Page 1)
Chapter 4: Advancements (12/04/14) (Yep, still Page 1)
Chapter 5: TBA
Chapter 6: TBA
Chapter 7: TBA
Chapter 8: TBA
Chapter 9: TBA
Chapter 10: TBA

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Chapter 1: Introductions Part I​

There are always issues in life. The extent of those issues is the only thing that changes, no matter how good of a thing you get, there will always be a reason why it's a problem. Be it difficulty with change, less enjoyment but better rewards? Almost anyway you look at things, there are downfalls which can easily come back to haunt you. And the way you deal with an issue, someone is going to be put in a bad place. A place where they don't want to be, but when it all goes wrong for you, it's the result of one simple thing. It's called Karma. But before we get to what happened to me, I think I need to show you some good reasons why Karma selected me for picking.

____________________________

Rally of Switzerland; 8th August 2003:​

The pines were blown by the wind, but only for a brief moment. As I, Jack Cytranear flew past each one of them in the Impreza I was running with my co driver, Steven Byers.

The WRC season had been going great, I was amongst the battle of the decade as I raced between the then runner up World Champion, Peter Solberg. And Citroen's new weapon, Sebastien Loeb. Just like Sebastien, I was the new hotshot out on the stages, fortunately in WRC there's no way for the other drivers to pick on the new guy. So I could just get stuck in.

The rally of Switzerland is a new rally, just added this year as a test. And the roads here on the Eiger stages were perfect for the car, and Steven was pushing out those pace notes perfectly. I was holding the lead, but only just. Sebastien Loeb was very close behind and Petter Solberg not too far off either.

These are just shots that photographers took back then, impressive work I must say.

Jack finished the rally.

"Jack! We got it! We won the rally!" Steven threw proud fists up in celebration.

They climbed out of the Subaru and headed towards their team.

"Hey, Jack!" The Team owner of Subaru Racing Technology ran over towards him completely ignoring Jack's celebrations.

"Oh 🤬, what do you want!? Can't you see I'm celebratin' here?" Jack said angrily.

"No need to snap, but I have some good news!" He shouted to be heard over the roaring crowds as Jack walked towards the small steps used for a podium.

"Speak to me, afterwards," Jack shouted.

He shoved the Chief back and jumped on the podium with his Co-Driver, Steven Byers. He stood proud viewing all around, he looked to each side to see both Sebastien and Petter to each side not looking very impressed by Jack's antics. Even Steven looked embarrassed.

"Shame, suckers!" Jack shouted.

Petter and Sebastien both just looked away in disgust and Steven shielded his face

____________________________

After the Podium.

"Anyway, Chief! What do you want?" Jack demanded.

"Well, I told you not to calle me Chief. The team believes that you're most likely to keep the pace ahead of Sebastien during the season. You've proven your abilities already. You dominated at Monte Carlo, and showed very strong consistency in New Zealand. So we're promoting you to lead driver. We need all the man power we can to keep ahead of Sebastien Loeb," he finished and awaited response.

"Well if I must say it's about damn time. I've been pushing half a season and you only just note it now!? What are you blind. I mean thank you for the promotion but still. You need to pay more attention," Jack said arrogantly.

"Thanks, for understanding," he said sarcastically as Jack headed out of the room.

____________________________

Believe me, that's not even the start of it, that's just innocent arrogance compared to what I did later on. It was later in the season where the bad decisions started, if I didn't do this stupid little thing, I wouldn't be here right now just talking about it. I'd still be rallying, partaking in my passion. Though I'd still be the arse I was, I've changed now. Time and isolation changes a lot.

____________________________

Rally Italy; 4 October 2003​

"We're still 40 seconds off of Sebastien! And still a further 20 seconds behind Petter! We need to get the pace, Jack, you can do it!" Steven gave Jack the encouraging words in hope for a better next stage. The final of the day.

They arrived at the start of the next stage. Steven prepared himself and Jack just inspected the road he could see from the start line.

"Alright... We're going in... 3.. 2.. 1.. GO!!" Steven shouted.

Jack and Steven remained very focused. They knew what they had to do. Jack perfected a Scandinavian flick into a hairpin.

They gained time through the final stage through sheer brute force as Jack removed all mercy on the car. Though by the end...

"Damn! We're still behind. We need to win this rally to get back in the game. If either of the other two beat us we'll be out of contention for the series. We've only got tomorrow to make up the time," Steven said as he undid his seat belts and climbed out of the Impreza's roll cage.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Jack said as he did the same.

Steven headed back to the hotel they were booked into while Jack stayed back. The rest of the team had an early night, and this was just the perfect opportunity for his plan.

"If you can't beat them... Join them. If you can't join them, then break in and damage their equipment," Jack muttered as he approached Citroen's lock up.

He had managed to secure a key and password into the lock up, and he just had to get it there and do his work. He opened the door and climbed in. The lights were already on so Jack started. He slashed all their tires and destroyed all their suspension components. He left the transmission untouched and continued to damage other car components. There were quite a lot of spare steering rods, so Jack simply stole them. He finished sabotaging the Citroen base, and did the same with some to his own team, destroying some parts specifically targeted for Petter's car. He finished and headed back to the hotel.

__________________________

The next day I dominated the stages, not even feeling an ounce of regret or guilt about my wrongs. I won the rally and maintained my lead. Peter had to retire and Citroen managed to find parts for Sebastien. I think they dug into other team cars to keep Loeb in the running. And then came the second to last rally in Spain. Lots of tarmac roads, this year in the Andalusia area...

-----------------------------

So yeah, I'm back in business. I'd say that I'm ready as ever, but any look to how ready I usually am would reveal that I'm not prepared for anything in any way, shape or form. I'm actually legitimately ready this time. I have a chapter planner.

All photo's featured in Cytranear can be found on my Flickr. There's some other stuff there too if anyone is interested.

But anyway, thank you very much for reading, if you have the time, it would be great to hear some comments from you guys. Thanks very much, see you later.

I've also just realized that I've delayed my own writing by relying on DLC.

Edit: 06/02/14: Have I set a world record for least comments ever now?

 

[Michelin]

Answer to your edit: Maybe.

And hey, 1st comment! I remember this fan fic from GT5. But I don't remember much from it..

Well, anyway, nice writing man. Keep it up!

 

[Skython]

Answer to your edit: Maybe.

And hey, 1st comment! I remember this fan fic from GT5. But I don't remember much from it..

Well, anyway, nice writing man. Keep it up!

It's a good thing that you can't remember much, because it will mean it will be more interesting. But your memory will probably be refreshed once I get back to the original story, because half of this first chapter wasn't in the original version. I will keep it up, as soon as Polyphony Digital releases the new track. I regret stating that the next chapter would need Andalusia because it's taking ages for them to release it. Thanks very much for commenting.

 

[Skython]

Okay, because I am an absolute genius, I have modified the next chapter so that I don't need the new track because it's really testing my patience. It was a bad idea to make Andalusia relevant. Fortunately it wasn't really that relevant. It was just there in order to keep more rallying scenes in the story. So I'm able to go straight to the next chapter. And chances are that very shortly after I post this chapter, PD will announce, "Andalusia coming to GT6 tomorrow!!!"

Chapter 2: Introductions Part II​

My position in the championship was running quite well and somehow no one found out who it was who tarnished equipment at Rally Italy. So in high pride, ego burning like a cow farting in an oil spill, heh. I went into Spain planning on recovering my championship lead I lost earlier in the season. Steven had already gotten all the pace notes and we were ready to take out to the new stages in Andausia.

_______________________

After the first leg of the rally
_______________________

"Yeah!" Jack shouted as he got out of the car.

"I think we'll be getting our lead back," Steven smiled as he took out his seatbelts.

Jack noticed Chief pacing back and forth with a very angry face. Chief saw Jack and immediately headed towards him.

"AAARGH! JACK!!!" He shouted as he pointed at Jack who just watched.

"What?" Jack asked bluntly.

"What the 🤬 is wrong with you!? Do you have no sense of fair play, no morals? Whatever it is, what would push you to damage equipment of your rivals, and even your own teammate!? You 🤬 moron! I don't care if you have a chance at the title, I'd rather lose gracefully than win with you as our leading man. What sort of image will that give out!?" Chief just continued to shout in anger. He placed his hands on his head in stress.

"Subaru, where you might not be fastest, but you can always cheat to get what you want... NO! I won't stand for it, you're out of the team. Go home and never come back here!" Chief pushed Jack, threw his arms down and stormed off in another direction.

Jack stomped towards Chief from behind and threw a hard punch to the side of his head. Chief fell down to the ground and put his hands on his head.

"Aaargh, 🤬!" He groaned.

"You feel that, Chief? Huh? That's what you 🤬 get, you 🤬 head! You 🤬 proud! Don't say sorry, I'll just make my own way out!" Jack shouted violently and then stormed into the WRC car and took off.

_______________________

And there it was, my dreams passing before my eyes. I'd never had anyone speak to me like that before, that was the first time, I guess when you have soft parents you just go like that. You either grow up to be soft, or you turn spoilt. I was the latter, I headed back home quite quickly before anyone could really find me. I took a private jet just in case. I arrived home in the Trialerrá Mountains back home in America and just sat at home for a few days, I tried ringing my girlfriend of the time, Betty. But she wasn't answering, so I just cabbaged. Retreated if you like. Then a few days later got an interesting letter in the mail.

"Dear J. Cytranear

We probably haven't met before, but I've been looking into your achievements in the WRC this year. I just heard that Subaru kicked you out and was wondering if you were interested in joining my own team. I've been raising the funds for sometime and now my business has grown to such a level that the funds are readily available. So are you interested? The deal is, all you have to do is beat me in a race at your home track in a two lap race, I'll be in my Corvette C5. I believe you are in ownership of a Viper GTS? It'll be a true American Showdown. Though there's a catch. If you win, the team will take the WRC by storm in 2005. We'll do practices in the last few rallies of the 2004 season for testing. But if I win, then you work for me, and all you own falls under my ownership. But think about it, even if you lose, you'll still have work. I'll own your house, but I'll still let you live in it of course. Sound like a good deal? Meet me at the track at 1400 hours this Sunday at the track if you're in on it.

Signed, Max-Edge..."

I was perplexed by the letter. Never heard of this guy, no one had, I checked google, asked my friends, and even the dictionary! Though that was because my friends thought it would be funny to see if I was gullible enough to actually look in a dictionary. Though back then I was so confident in my driving skills, I accepted the offer.

_______________________

Sunday

Jack sat on the bonnet of his red Dodge Viper GTS as he waited for the mysterious Max-Edge to arrive. He was feeling confident in his abilities, especially in a more powerful car. He was beginning to lose hope and had almost fallen asleep while lying down on the car. And then he heard the unmistakable sound of a Chevy V8 roaring from nearby, and then out of nowhere a Corvette C5 arrived.

Max-Edge stepped out of the car, he wore very high quality jeans, and a leather jacket. Paired with the sunglasses you could tell it was all high quality, because high quality stuff never looks quite natural compared to weathered medium range clothing. Max approached Jack.

"Why hello, Jack. Good to see you're on time." Edge smiled and pulled off his sunglasses.

He had a calm and slightly aged, croaky voice.

"Hey uuh, Max. So what's the conditions? What are the rules?" Jack asked.

"Ah, just call me Edge. We'll race by basic race rules, no contact, no corner cutting. Things like that." Edge leaned on the side of his Corvette.

"Good, and how many laps?" Jack asked.

"Just the two. I mean, we don't want to spend all day racing around here. We'll have a team to create soon, won't we?" Edge said as he smoked a cigar.

"Well of course, because I know I'm going to win." Jack said smugly.

"Yeah, but you never know, things might go my way after all," Edge responded back.

"I just need you to sign this contract to bind us both in the agreements made prior to the race, is that alright?" Edge passed Jack the clipboard with the contract and a pen.

Jack read the first two lines and then skipped the rest before signing it and giving it back to Edge.

Edge looked at the signature and smiled.

"Well lets get this race underway, shall we? We'll park up at the hairpin after, the hairpin by the big cliffs," Edge threw the clipboard in to the open door of his Corvette and slapped his hands together.

"With pleasure," Jack said as he lowered into the Viper.

They prepared for the off and watched the countdown lights.

Go!!

"He's got a good start I'll give him that!" Jack shouted.

"Just wait till he does something stupid"

"BINGO!!!"

"He has no idea what he just got himself into"

"This is easier than pissing on the lawn! How can he be that slow?"

"I'll just take it easy and see if he catches me."

"I'm getting bored of this."

"Look at who realized that this is a race."

"Driftin ain't gettin you nowhere boy!"

"Oh my"

The race carried on like that and then after the two lap race had ended I parked up at the hairpin.

Jack waited for quite awhile.

Eventually the losing Corvette showed up and parked just behind Jack's Viper. Edge climbed out of his Corvette and smiled at Jack.

"Well done, you won the race," Edge said proudly.

"Yeah, it will be good to get back to WRC next year," Jack smugly.

"Oh, WRC? Those were your plans? Well, I think you've signed the wrong contract. My my, silly me. What does the contract actually say, Jack?" Edge passed Jack the contract.

"What the? Why did you?" Jack started to panic.

"Ooooh, well sorry. But I'm a man of my word. Well of my text at least, so I'll have to just get this done with," Edge looked over the road.

Then Edge kicked Jack in the gut to get him on the ground, and then winked before some big men came out.

"Guys, finish him." Edge said as he pushed another cigar into his mouth.

"Feel free to take the Viper afterwards, he won't be needing it anymore." Edge said as he climbed into the Corvette and took off.

___________________________

The men beat me within an inch of my life, but against their knowledge, they're final blow by throwing me over the cliff edge wasn't the last moment for me. I survived out there for about 3 days before someone found me. And since then I've been here, in this hospital. It's been a very long time now, so long that I'm not even sure I want to leave. I'd be so far behind the world, I'll have nowhere to go. And I don't want to be back in life just to die alone. All my friends gave up hope and just left me here. My entire family was killed, I think it was part of that contract with Edge. He took advantage of his powers, and now I'm suffering.

"Hey, Ryan," Jack greeted the doctor as he walked in.

"Hey Jack, how's it going? ... Yep, just as I suspected, not very well. You haven't done much in the past few second, we're going to have to fine you for that," Ryan joked.

"The truth is, we're going to have to let you go. You're pretty much full recovered now. We know that you've lost your home now, and we know you need somewhere to go, so we have rented out a room in a hotel. It doubles as an old folks home as we have common work with them, you know? Old people and hospitals. It was a surprise for me coming to a hopsital, I mean. I thought old people would be better aquinted with the funeral home! Ha! You get it, old people. Funer... Aaah, you're not laughing? But it's so... Uuuh, nevermind. But anyway, you'll be on a plane in no time and headed back to your home town," Ryan smiled.

"How soon?" Jack asked.

"Immediately!!" Ryan answered demonically.

"Oooh, crap," Jack muttered.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
​

Some of the keener eyed folks may have noticed that the images in this chapter look like they were from GT5. And yes, they would be right. This race was all form the original version. Special thanks to @SVX to driving as Edge, even though this was actually done almost two years ago. At least I didn't forget and have to edit it in later on this time.

 

[Michelin]

You changed a bit this chapter from what I remember, but a great chapter!

 

[Anathema]

Long-awaited update.

Good to see it being updated.

 

[Skython]

You changed a bit this chapter from what I remember, but a great chapter!

Yep, sure have. This next chapter you'll remember quite a bit of too... Maybe. Thanks once again for your visit, mate. :cheers"

Long-awaited update.

Good to see it being updated.

Yeah, it's being updated as time goes on fortunately. Because now I have the time and dedication to actually get it done. Thanks, mate for visiting.

Also thanks to RCKakashi for visiting too.

_________________________________​

Chapter 3: Rock Bottom​

Jack headed to the airport. The hospital was directing him back into a hotel/old folks home. He waited in the airport thinking about the oddities of a crossover between the two.

"I'm only 27, and I'm going to an old folks home? This ain't right."

He read in a pamphlet about how this hotel is partnered with the hospital to hold Ex Long Term injured patients just being released from Hospital. Jack was then directed onto the plane...

----

A fair while later

----

Jack followed the directions on the map, and arrived at the home. It looked like a new building with cameras watching every inch of the place.

"Ship N' Shack's Old Folks and Hotel? ... Sounds... Quite dodgy actually," Jack walked in towards the door.

"Hmmmm, better go in and see if I'm at the right place."

Jack walked to the main desk, and was greeted by a fat Gothic woman.

"Uuuh, hey. I'm Jack Cytranear. I've just been sent to stay here... By the hospital, does anything say I'm meant to be here?" Jack asked.

He was still unsure because how often does a Goth work at an Old Folks Home? Jack looked at the Calendar on the wall.

"It's October? Must be Fall then."

He looked back at the lady.

"Ummm, miss?"

The woman sat there not blinking and drooling looking out the door. Jack looked at the desk and saw a label. It read, "if receptionist remains distracted from any human contact, refer to this stick." Jack picked up the stick and waved it in front of her face. Still she remained completely out of it. He poked her arm a few times and then she flinched and screamed in fright.

"Who are you?" She asked with a monotone voice.

"I'm Jack Cytranear, and I've been sent here by the Hospital to stay until I can find some place else to stay?"

Jack frowned a little and then shook his head quickly to try and forget the stupidity of the lady. She began typing on the computer, and then hit the monitor a few times. Still her face revealed a completely blank expression. Jack put his hand to his face.

"Oh lord," he muttered.

"Alright. Uuuuh..." She stared out the door again.

"Ahem!!" Jack reminded her of his presence.

"Oh! Uh, just walk down there and you'll be shown where to go. We have a small hotel service at the front. You'll be in there. Not the old folks home, have a nice day." She said with a tone as blank as her facial expression.

After talking she instantly went back to staring out the door. Jack turned around and looked out the door to see what was out there.

"The Gothic Bakery, thought so. The only place in the world where cake and negativity can fall into the same sentence," Jack whispered.

He walked towards his temporary home.

The room was a nice mix between new and old. All the cabinets, walls, beds looked old, but the room was warm and cosy, there is a modern oven, the bed was comfortable and the cabinet wasn't bug infested.

"Isn't this nice," Jack said as he sat down.

Someone opened the door and Jack turned around to look. There was an angry man who pointed at a sign by the door. Then the man left again. Jack read the sign.

"1. No talking amongst yourself. This may excite ex-mental patients in rooms nearby and cause spontaneous riots.
2. If you find yourself in a situation where the walls are talking to you, sit down, call for Home Staff. The source of the problem is usually someone breaking rule #1, or you've been released from the institute too early.
3. The walls aren't trying to get you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We all hope you recover from your mental illness soon. Not that you have a mental illness of course, because as you should know, the first step to overcoming harsh insanity is to forget that it's there."

"Uh, okay." Jack looked completely offput by the sign.

He sat down in the lounge and spotted some wooden rail-like pieces on the roof. Then decided to get some sleep, to get prepared for searching for a job the next day.




Time went on for Jack in the Old Folk's home. Day by day, week by week he went to job interviews everywhere. Schools, shops, even tried for IT. But it was of no use. Every single time he applied they turned him away. It has now gotten to January 21st... Still nothing.




Knock knock...

Jack stumbles over to the door, after being woken up at 7 AM. He reaches it, unlocks the door's multiple locks and opens the door.

"Mr uuuuuh..." The Goth lady looked at a letter she held in her hands for awhile.

"Um, excuse me," Jack spoke to get her attention.

"Oh! Uuuh, Mr..." She looked at the letter again.

"Cytranear, letter from the Hospital..." the goth lady hands him the letter.

Jack then walks away. Jack walks back to his bed and reads the letter.

The goth stumbles away from the door, almost like a zombie as she leaves the door wide open.

"There's no point locking the door I'm awake now anyways..." Jack said as he looked at the letter.

Dear Jack Cytranear

As of "January 23rd" we will no longer be able to support you with our services, as of January 23rd we will no longer pay funds for your stay at "Ship N' Shack's Old Folks Home and Hotel."

Sincerely, Dave Ubercokland.

"Sheesh... What a name... Oh shoot! What can I possibly do now!?"

Jack looked around the room. He then walks to the door and closes it.

"Got no friends, no family. No colleagues, and not even a job. Guess I have no place in this world... Like I shouldn't even be here... ..."

Jack looks back at the roof, and then walks towards the cabinet, and starts rummaging through it.

"There we go, that's what I want."

Jack walks past the roof rails, and pulls a table under it. He writes on a piece of paper just a few lines and places the paper on the bench nearby. Then stands on the top of the table, he pulls out what he got from the cabinet... It's a rope, and he ties it to the railing, not even a doubt about his decision.

"If I don't need to be here then why suffer. I've been contemplating this day before I'd even come out of hospital. I think it was inevitable."

Jack pulls the rope around his neck and tightens it.

"Good bye, I never met any of you, but maybe I'll see you again."

Jack kicks the table from underneath himself, and then there is a sudden knock on the door, and then it opens revealing a blonde girl in her mid 20's, a quick expression of horror spreads to her face as she propels herself over to the pocket knife which was sitting next to the paper on the cabinet, ignoring the paper she jumps up grabbing the rope and cutting it off as quickly as she could.

Jack fell straight to the floor and collapsed.

"No, no, no," said the girl as she dragged him across to the chair in the corner.

She pulled Jack onto it and noticed he was still breathing.

"You fool!" She shouted innocently.

Jack coughed a few times.

"Why did you bother?" He coughed out with all his voice he could squeeze out.

"What on earth drove you to that?" The girl raised her voice in retaliation and then helped Jack onto his bed and then shut the door she had left wide open.

"Well," Jack coughed again, and started breathing a little more normally.

"I'll wait here until you're safely breathing. Then you can explain yourself," the girl asked. She tried to keep herself from frowning at him, but failed, and then she sat down on a table facing Jack.

"Ahem..." She glared in such a way that still looked sympathetic at Jack, who was just about to start talking.

"What would your family do if they heard you'd taken yourself out!? Huh?" She still sounded angry as she spat the words out.

"Family? ... I don't have family... If I did I wouldn't be in this position. Family is someone to fall back onto if you're desperate for a home. Family is a place where love and care is unconditional... I had family once... But they're all gone now," Jack was still talking weakly.

"Your friends?" the girl added.

"Nothing... Still the same situation. I don't know anyone in this world now. I can't get work, and I'm about to be thrown out of here... The Hospital can't afford to hold me anymore. I've been out of this world almost 10 years!" Jack continued.

The girl started looking sympathetic and then put down the pocket knife and walked over to Jack.

"How could anyone be in that position?" she asked.

"It's a long story, so long story short... I was hospitalized in 2004. Then just 5 days later my family was murdered... ... Parents... Brother... Sister, and even her 2 year old baby boy... Friends all gave up hope and moved on. Loyal 🤬 friends they are. Pftt... And I was alone in numerous hospitals for another 5 years... With no one to talk to except for the dying and the heavily wounded. Which probably didn't hear me anyway... I came out last October, and the rest I've already mentioned..." Jack stood up and stretched his arms and legs.

The girl was even more shocked and even more sympathetic than before... She approached Jack and hugged him for a little while, and Jack just stood there awkwardly, confused about what was even happening.

"That's terrible, that's all I can say." she thought for a second.

"If you want you can live in my place for awhile, you can meet the guys. Just until you can get on your feet, and we'll help you get there," she smiled.

"You don't have to do that, really," Jack answered.

"No, I insist, and it sounds like I DO have to do it. It can't be coincidence that I happened to open the door at that time, maybe the universe did this for a reason," she said as she grabbed out her cell phone.

"I'll just ring Dillan and see what he says," she said as she dialed a few numbers in.

She waited for an answer on the other end and walked out of the room.

"Hey, Dillan. I need to speak to you about something."

"Yeah, it's urgent."

"Well, I was at work, and when I walked into one room I met a man who is about to be kicked on the street..."

"Yes."

"Hold on, let me speak first."

"DILLAN!!"

"Can we just have him stay with us until he can get on his feet?"

"Oh come on! Look, if you let him stay, I'll do that thing you really like me to do?

"Yes, I'll do the sausage thing too."

"Thank you."

"Bye."

She walked back into the room.

"It's perfectly fine for you to stay," she said.

"I can't say how much I appreciate this... Thank you," Jack added as he stumbled up onto his feet.

"I'm Diane.. Diane Wilsborough, and you are?"

"Jack... Jack Cytranear," Jack nodded and smiled.

"That name is familiar, have we met before?"

"No, not from what I recall at least. I haven't been in this area in 18 years."

"Oh okay. Now pack your things, we're moving soon."

"I don't have a car any more," Jack said as if he was embarrassed.

"Pack into my car and we'll be off."

"I don't have anything to pack really... Except for these," Jack put a couple of small things into a bag and then followed Diane out of the room.

----

Outside

----

"Wow! A Dodge Charger SRT8!? Didn't expect that," Jack said as they reached the car.

"Thanks, it belongs to Dillian," she replied slightly embarrassed at Jack's reaction.

They drove off down the road.

"Sooo uh. Is Dillan your boyfriend?" Jack asked.

"No, what made you ask that?" Diane asked.

"You said something which sounded dodgy. Something about the thing with the sausage," Jack said slightly jokingly.

"Aaah, no. We live together along with Andy. I do the cooking, and Dillian is a big fan of my specials." Diane responded.

"Oh, okay." Jack answered.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home," Diane said nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm no genius judge of a house's condition, who else lives with you again?" Jack asked.

"Well there's Dillan. He's a motorsport fan, and also a fan of keeping fit, he's stronger than almost anyone I know. But really while having a big ego he's quite nice. And then there's Andy, who is very shy, more like anti social. He's a technology wizz and he's into all that. It took him about quarter of a year for him to actually speak and entire sentence to any of us. I don't know how he'll react to you," Diane chuckled as they walked towards the door.

Knock knock!

The door opened slowly revealing a tall skinny figure.

"Hey Andy, this is..." Diane stopped as the Andy stood awkwardly before slowly disappearing into a room.

"Jack..." Diane dropped her positive tone as Andy hid.

"Yeah, I thought that would happen... I'll talk to him... Uh, wait here," she forced a smile but couldn't rid her face of the slightly evil look, and she walked in and shut the door.

Jack looked around and waited patiently. The house was surrounded in a nice small garden, with a few medium sized trees on the front of the property. The house was made of brick and from what Jack saw the inside was quite new. Then the door opened again.

"You should stay away from Andy awhile," Diane whispered, and then showed Jack the way inside.

The house was just what Jack had thought. It was a nice and quite tidy place, and was relatively new. Some of the walls were Maroon and others a brown colour. The colours blended beautifully in the place's open rooms. They arrived in the Kitchen, where Jack just caught a glimpse of Andy running around the next corner to hide.

"Wow, this is a nice place you guys have here. Who brings in the dough to get you all this?" Jack asked.

He sat down on one of the Kitchen stools and rested his arms on the bench.

"Well Andy works for Selphorax Electronics, and I guess you know who that is," Diane said as she carried on walking past Jack and through the next door. Jack jumped up again to follow almost knocking over the stool in the process.

"It's one of the biggest companies in the US isn't it? They do a lot of work for Japanese car companies," Jack said as he caught up to her.

"Yeah, cool huh?" Diane said.

She ducked into another door at the end of the hall. As Jack walked in he realized that this was where he would sleep. There was a big bed, and some drawers, all of which were empty.

"Here we are, unpack and hopefully then I can introduce you to Dillan, see you soon," Diane smiled and left the room.


20 minutes later




Jack finally headed out to the lounge after taking 10 minutes to find it. In there sat a stranger, a big man, built like a tank. He was clean shaven, bald and looked as if he was about to kill someone. He looked over at Jack.

"Who are you?" He had a voice which was like what Brian Blessed would sound like with an american accent.

"Uh... I'm Jack... Um, Diane said..." Jack was interrupted as the man approached.

In no time he was towering over Jack, all Jack did was gasp. The man smiled and threw out his hand.

"Glad to meet you, I'm Dillan," he laughed.

Jack stood there frozen.

"Ha! Impressed are you? I thought so," his accent sounded like he was from New York, he laughed and walked back to the couch to watch more television.

"What are you watching?" Jack looked at the screen to see a cartoon playing.

"Johnny Bravo, just love this guy!" Dillan didn't move his head away.

Relevant link​

Dillan laughed.

"I can so relate to that! Everyone always spreads the word when I show up!" He said smiling smugly.

Jack chuckled and left the room and heard the sound of paper rustling and fabrics softly connecting with carpet coming from his new room. He walked in there and Diane stood there reading a bit of paper.

"What happened to privacy?" Jack stood there with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

"No privacy in this house" Diane looked through the paper.

"You met Dillan? How did that go?" Diane asked.

"Uh, loudly I guess," Jack said unsure about what to do.

"Yeah, he has that effect. I read you can drive a car? If so I can get you a job working as a courier... They need someone to get some packages to their destinations quick," Diane said as she looked up from the paper.

Jack raised an eye brow and chuckled.

"Me, Jack Cytranear, an ex WRC driver working as a Courier... You're joking, right? Don't you know how embarrassing it is for a driver or ex race driver to become a courier?" Jack asked.

Diane looked at something past Jack...

"I think I know where I heard your name now, look behind you..." Diane tried not to laugh.

Jack turned around to see Dillan standing there with a big grin on his face, a piece of paper and pen... He nodded his head at the paper.

"Alright," Jack signed the paper.

Dillan continued to stand there.

"Uuuuh, hey, what's up?" Jack said in an awkward manner.

"Do you want that following you around all day or a job as a Courier?" Diane asked.

Jack sighed.

"I'll get my coat..." Jack said as he turned around...

"Uuuh... Excuse me? ... Be gone? ... What do you want!?" Jack laughed awkwardly.

Dillan dropped his head down low and walked away in disappointment. Jack looked to Diane. She shrugged, and they headed off for the job.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-​

Okay, so just incase anyone is confused about character colours. I don't quite see how you can get confused, but anything is possible, I'm going to put up a list of character-colour things and whenever a new character appears, I will add it in this little note section after the chapter.

Jack = Black/Bold
Edge = Dark Red
Diane = Orange
Dillan = Red
Andy = Green

Characters who only speak once or twice throughout

Generic Female = Purple
Generic Male Blue
Dammit... Now after bringing up that Johnny Bravo video I just keep getting distracted by Johnny Bravo episodes while I'm coding this chapter.

And now I have lots of other fan fic goodness to read, I have a lot of RCKakashi's stuff and then Someplayadude's to read. I might not even catch up fully, I'll get distracted before I'm up to date (I'm not exactly known for having a good attention span. ).

 

[SomePlayaDude]

Great work. I can sympathize with Jack on what he's going through. Looks like opportunity awaits the one that.... waits (okay, enough bad jokes).

Nostalgia is a useful tool. You aren't the only person to use Johnny Bravo as a reference. What is it did i do.. oh.. Dammit Gary.

There's a problem: the pink's a little too bright. And i don't want to make you go hexadecimal all over. How about swapping blue for the boys and purple for the girls? (Or if you're lazy, you can mind:censored: us and give blue for the ladies)

 

[Skython]

Great work. I can sympathize with Jack on what he's going through. Looks like opportunity awaits the one that.... waits (okay, enough bad jokes).

Nostalgia is a useful tool. You aren't the only person to use Johnny Bravo as a reference. What is it did i do.. oh.. Dammit Gary.

There's a problem: the pink's a little too bright. And i don't want to make you go hexadecimal all over. How about swapping blue for the boys and purple for the girls? (Or if you're lazy, you can mind:censored: us and give blue for the ladies)

Hmmm, nah. I'll just force everyone else to adjust their computer monitor brightness to make the pink readable. I already have a character who is coming in later with blue, but it's not too important so I'll take your suggestion.

Thanks SomeplayaDude, RCKakashi14, and NascarManiaco99 for all popping in to read the new chapter less than a day after I even release the chapter. Quickest responses I've had in quite awhile.

 

[RCKakashi14]

It is interesting to see a character who got his karma and then will claw his way back to the top. And I like that Charger SRT8 too, especially when trolling an R35 GT-R at the Polyphony Digital Cup.

Oh, as for my fanfic, I will resume the Boom once the duels are done. Let us all hope that car sharing, gifting, and Lounge are back. I didn't pay around 50 USD just to have a half-finished game. I still have high hopes for Kaz and his team.

Will look forward to the next entry.

 

[Skython]

Well... It's been like a month. And this one of the disadvantages to working full time with a bunch of idiots. No really, the guys I work with.. I actually thought that people this thick only existed in comedy shows. But still, I'm starting to settle into work, and I'm going to get a new position anyway. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it is going to happen... Apparently. But knowing my dad (my boss), it could never happen too. But aah, the advantages of having a boss who is also your father.

Anyway, I've remastered another chapter! Hopefully I can get back into schedule now as I've delayed this one for far too long due to simply being busy with other things. Work mainly.

Chapter 4: Advancements​

"Hello, my name is Dale, and it's nice to meet you," said the man at the chair.

"Any work experience?" He looked over the desk at Jack.

"3rd place in the WRC in 2004? Does that count?" Jack looked over at Dale.

"Hmmmm, Jack Cytranear, the worst sport in WRC since... Well the worst ever. Never expected to see you here. An ex-WRC driver? Trying to be a courier, HA! Don't you realize how shameful that is, just wait till I tell the press about this!" He laughed.

"Yeah I know, but I'm being forced," Jack looked back at the window.

Diane stood there in the hall with a smug face, holding a piece of paper with "Dillan is waiting" written on it to the window. Dale looked at the window...

"The missus? She'll have you getting her free shoe delivery soon. You know, women are confusing. They go into the mall to buy shoes, so they can walk around other shoe stores... Buying more shoes," he sat their with a baffled expression.

"No, not the missus, just a friend, now I just need some work. What you got?" Jack said.

Dale leaned onto the desk.

"Now, to be honest, I don't got any jobs available in the line of a normal courier. So I can save you some pain and embarrassment there. But I got a friend in another market that could use a quick driver. A hired gun to get him out of some 🤬 that he got into recently. He lives down south about an hours drive from here, a beginner who can't afford another car. But he got himself into a pink slip event that is going to take place on the dirt roads outside of town. You up for it? It's all I got right now." Dale leaned back into his chair.

"Well, if it's all you got, I guess I have to," Jack said as he thought further.

"Here's the address, go there alone and don't take her with you. You got it? When you get there, you're looking for Jerry Dufrense." Dale reached into his desk drawers and pushed a folder with a map and address written on it.

"Oh, and by the way, if you can... Please, try and steer him away from street racing, it's a dangerous game, as I think you would know," said Dale.

"Alright, thanks," Jack shook the man's hands and left the room.

"Did you get the job?" Diane asked enthusiastically.

"Yeeeah, sort of. He gave me a different job, though I have to leave town for a day or two," Jack said as he showed Diane the map.

"Uggh, I'll drive you up there... No exceptions," Diane said disapproving tone.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Jack smiled happily.

"I still don't know why applying for a Courier required such a serious interview, I felt like I was applying for the next Masterchef or something, it was freaky," Jack said as they left the building, they got into Dillan's Dodge Charger and drove away to their destination.

"Dunno, but as long as they gave you something." Diane answered.


-------


A lot of silent driving later...

"Why are you so quiet, it's like you're hiding something," Jack looked at a silent Diane as they drove on.

"Don't know, just something seems strange here. Why do you have to go out here? Couldn't there have been something that wasn't long distance?" Diane continued on as Jack continued to be distracted by the constant passing cars and got distracted by other thoughts.

"Are you even listening!?" Was all Jack heard from Diane as he snapped back into reality.

"Ugh, something about not trusting this entire work business, and some other things," Jack said while doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that he is talking out of his arse.

Diane just sighed and continued to drive on.

"So what did this man say about this job?" Diane continued to act like the stereotypical angry woman.

"Not much. He said someone named Jerry Dufusomethingrather needed some driving related work done, and that it would pay off well." Jack tried to avoid saying it was a pink slip race.

"I only met her a day ago, and already she seems over protective," Jack thought as Diane's response continued to not happen.

"Is it legal?" She looked to Jack worryingly.

"Well it must be," Jack said nervously.

"It better be, I don't want to be encouraging anything illegal," said Diane.

"My father, illegal racing killed him, you know?" Diane continued and started gritting her teeth.

"Do you know who the illegal racer's name was?" Jack asked.

"No, why the hell would I know that? No one found a trace of the other driver, I only remember seeing the article in the paper, when it read, "Local businessmen dies during death race!" She pushed her voice to sound stable.

"He disappeared for a day, and then it went straight to the papers. So half of the town knew about my father dying before me. It explained why mom acted the way she did the previous day. She probably couldn't break it to me, and then we spent a lot of time struggling after he died. My mom had to work and act as a solo mother. She could barely cope, we had to move house, sell half of the things we had just to keep afloat. I had my plans for my own future, but they were all slashed when we found ourselves with barely enough money to get by," Diane went silent.

"So he was killed by street racers? But didn't race himself?" Jack asked.

Diane raised her voice.

"I've said enough now! ..." She frowned heavily and held her mouth tight shut.

"Okay then, sorry to have asked?"

...

...

"Silence it is then," Jack muttered as he leaned back as they continued on in silence.

"Enough about my misfortune, how about yours!?" Diane suddenly burst back into conversation.

"Uh, honestly I don't really want to talk about it," Jack tried to stall time because he knows that the reason for his downfall was connected with street racers also, and didn't want to upset her any further. Or risk being thrown out the door.

"I talked about mine, I'm pretty sure you can talk about yours," Diane snapped.

"Can it wait until we get there? Please?" Jack in an attempt for his saviour asked for some time.

"Okay," she just sighed, frowned and drove on.


-------


As they drove along silence continued, and it continued to bug the both of them as they had no radio because all the radio stations were terrible.

"Hey, Jack? I'm sorry about before, when I talk about my father, I get really angry or really sad. I didn't mean to snap about it. It's just, he was a good man, I never expected he was doing such things. I didn't mean to push you into discussing anything you don't feel comfortable with," Diane looked over to Jack sympathetically.

"It's quite alright, however I can tell you my story if you promise not to murder me for it," Jack responded.

She gave Jack a distrusting look.

"Well, in my time of racing WRC, I was an ass-hole. A real 🤬 head according to all the guys in every team. I did something very wrong at one rally, something bad enough that I was kicked instantly from the team. I came back home, and I got a letter from someone named Max Edge. It offered me a new team to race for the next year. But the team entry was in the form of a race. A race in the mountains, on a road course..." Jack was interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait!! You're into street racing? Should I just let you go now, and let you die away so that no one remembers you, or just kill you now?" Diane looked intensely infuriated now, as if she was prepared to kill Jack.

"Wait, let me tell the entire story..." Jack added.

"Fine, but if it tells me you're going to be some low hung loser who does street racing, I can't be held responsible for what I'm going to do," Diane added angrily.

They were almost there, so if Diane's reaction was to be negative he wouldn't have far to walk.


"No, I'm not a street racer. But just this once, I did street race. I won it too, but the contract he had me sign was a trick, I was both arrogant and ignorant back then. Turns out the contract was an agreement to allow me under complete ownership of Edge. He owned me, and could do whatever he pleased. He had his guards beat me to near death... Hence why I was in hospital... And then my family was all killed a year later, by Edge I'm sure. And you know the rest," Jack sighed and sat back into his seat.

Diane was silent for the next minute, Jack tried to figure out why she was so quiet about it all but couldn't figure it out.


As they arrived at the location she started...

"They're all the same aren't they, you're just like the rest. Willing to let those around you rot and die so you can be happy, well have you seen what that causes now!? Have you seen the consequences!? And I bet you're just using me so that you could put yourself back on the "Street racing" map. Whatever it is you're doing here, I don't care what it is, and I don't care what you do from now on, because this will hopefully be the last time I see your soulless face. Is that clear? Now, get out and be gone, I'm not going to help you anymore," she stopped for Jack to get out.

Jack opened the door and turned towards Diane.

"You know, I have seen what it does. I learned the hard way, and I've only suffered ever since, and if you're not going to understand... Then fine, have it your way," Jack climbed out and shut the door and Diane still showed no sign of acknowledgement to Jack's words. She just quickly drove away, leaving nothing buy a small pair of tire marks behind.

"Fine, I don't even care," Jack muttered as he watched the Charger's V8 hit the rev limiter and disappear.




-------


"How did that go so wrong? I'm at rock bottom once again, just when you think you meet some nice people who are trustworthy... Obviously not. Well, I better forget it all, I barely even knew her but I did trust her. I'm probably better off not to trust people, maybe they are all selfish as well, and are no better than I was. This Jerry character is probably shady as : censored:. Let's see here," Jack found the address and knocked on the door.

A shout came from inside, followed by some crashing and rustling sounds, and then the door opened to reveal a young man, looked as if he were younger than 20, and he was thin and weakly built with quite a bit of facial hair. He looked quite poor.

"Sir, may I help you?" He asked in a vain attempt to sound intellectual.

"Uh, yeah. Is your name Jerry Dufrense? I hear you have a Pink slip dilema, and you need a driver to help you win?" Jack answered.

"Oh, you're "the guy!" Uuuuh, just wait a second..." He ran into his lounge where the lights were turned off and he shut the TV off, flicked the lights on and sat down. They both took a seat.

"You can come in now!" He shouted from the lounge

"So, what's the story?" Jack asked.

"Well, I've been into street racing over the last few months, just practicing so that I can take to the real track and show that I'm a capable driver. But suddenly I met this guy, he helped me win a race or two, and then started to threaten me, and he pushed me into this pink slip deal, and now if I don't beat him and his goons I'm going to lose my Golf, and I love my Golf, I've owned it for a few years and I know I'm not fast enough to beat him on my own, so I called on my dad, And he found you. Now I need you to teach me how to drive fast by tomorrow night," Jerry looked to Jack who just gave him an irritated stare.

"Your father failed to tell me that you were his son... Anyway, I'm Jack Cytranear, and I can definitely help you win this with my driving experience..."

"Wait, you're Jack Cytranear!? THE!!! Jack Cytranear? I heard that you died or something, I thought you vanished. Oh my god, I remember and am really surprised to meet you this way... Wow!" Jerry almost had a fan-boy fit.

Jack just glared at him, and intentionally coughed.

"Anyway, I have an idea as to how we can do this, teaching you would be impossible. But cheating, like how this man cheated you is possible," Jack smiled and leaned forward.

"How?" Jerry showed interest.

"Well, I still have the cast I had from my injuries back in the day, the Hospital forgot to take it. I can put that on, and claim I'm riding as passenger. They won't recognize me to be who I am, as no one has yet actually recognised me without a name, maybe because I've aged a bit over the last few years. We arrive, tell them I'm a passenger, but then switch seats just before the race. We'd have to be outside of their view of course but it's possible. And then I'll do the driving, and then we'll switch over again after in the same fashion as we did beforehand, park up, claim the money and leave," Jack nodded.

"Wow, I'm impressed, apparently you weren't the smartest driver but that's a good plan," Jerry relaxed and sighed in relief.

"Well, after spending almost a decade in hospital you think about things that usually never happen in reality, like how to deal with driver swaps with no one noticing, how to make a murderer run away, five things about time machines that no one has ever thought of, and more," Jack replied.

"What happened to you anyway?" Jerry asked.

Jack thought back to Diane's reaction to his story and decided to avoid telling anyone else.

"You don't need to know," Jack focused his eyes in the distance before snapping back to reality.

"Anyway, I need to sleep somewhere, can I stay here?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, sure, anything for an awesome..." Jerry looked at Jack's unamused face due to the praise.

"Completely normal run of the mill bloke... Heh..." He finished nervously.

"What were you watching anyway that you had to turn the TV off for?" Jack asked.

"Nothing..." Jerry said suspiciously as he pushed the DVD case out of view.

"Okaaaaaay... I'm going to get some sleep, as it's been a stressful day. Just don't continue to watch whatever you were watching, I don't want to know what it's like to live next to a brothel," Jack stood up, and called it a night.

----------------------------------------------------

And there we go, another chapter. New developments, a new character who claims that pornography is an artistic business and not just a reason for men to... You know?

I'll stop.

 

[Michelin]

Poor Jack (or maybe not).

Diane's has a reason for her reaction.

Oh, great chapter by the way!

 

[RCKakashi14]

Any developments with this? I find this an interesting read.

 

[Skython]

Poor Jack (or maybe not).

Diane's has a reason for her reaction.

Oh, great chapter by the way!

Thanks, mate. Good to see you come in and comment.

Any developments with this? I find this an interesting read.

I can legitimately apologize here. I've had this chapter ready for about a month. But when I went to upload it early June, I had a thread error, and Jordan said he was unable to fix it until a new site update came up. I could not enter the thread at all for pretty much this entire much. But do expect another new chapter or two very soon because it's been building up, and I have time off from work now.

And thank you to @Turbotwin01, @SVX, and @andre_pt for liking chapters.

Chapter 5: 100% possible?​

"So you're saying the car has been losing power recently? How old is it?" Jack said as he watched Jerry pacing around the garage.

"I've had her for only a few years, but when I bought her, she already had 150K miles on the clock," Jerry leaned on his red Volkswagen Golf.

"And have you done any maintenance? Oil change? Any modifications?" Jack asked.

"No, sir. All stock from the factory," Jerry said with pride.

"That's nothing to be proud of. It's the reason it's down on power," Jack opened up the bonnet and winced.

"Please, she's a she, not an it," Jerry advised to Jack.

"It! ... Isn't in good shape, we need to get this thing to the mechanic, pronto," Jack opened the door and got into the Golf.

"It can't be that bad..." Jerry closed the bonnet and got in the passenger seat.

"It is," Jack turned on the Golf and drove out of the garage.

"So where's a mechanic who can work on this Golf?" Jack asked.

"Just around the corner..." Jerry responded happily.

*two hours later*

"You don't actually know where it is, do you?" Jack parked on the side of the road.

"Eeerm, not exactly, but don't worry, we'll use the GPS!!" Jerry hit a few buttons on his phone.

"There we go, just follow the directions..." Jerry placed the phone on the phone holder.

"Do you know what surface the track we're racing is?" Jack said as they drove down the road.

"It's a dirt road outside of town, you might recognise it," said Jerry.

*4 hours later*

"So what have we done to it?" Jerry asked as if he were worried about his car.

"Just added some small power upgrades, we've gotten specialized rally tires, and some minor suspension adjustments. So that means new suspension of course, and I don't know how they did all that in just two hours, especially with only one guy there," Jack said as he passed Jerry back his credit card.

"So we should be alright now?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah, we're ready for the race, which we have to be at in about an hour, so let's go," Jack floored it and gave Jerry an example of the car's new power.

"So if this is a pink slip event, what car are you going to be winning?" Jack asked.

"Well, last time I saw them there was another VW Golf just like mine, quicker but different colour. The leader had a Mazda RX8, but said he isn't going to be risking that away, so he won't be driving it today. That is a good thing for us, because that thing is a powerhouse, and then there was his other goon in a 2007 Mini Cooper S. They said I could have any car participating as they are all one gang, so they count as one driver, but if any of them beat me, I lose mine," Jerry said as they drove over the crest and onto the gravel roads.

They stopped and switched seats to start work on their plan, and headed off again, and soon found the track. They saw the roads they would be racing on, and Jack realized something.

"You're right, I've seen these roads before, I don't..." Jack was interrupted.

"Well of course, they were once used for small rally events about 8 years ago, so that wouldn't surprise me," Jerry drove to the start line.



------------------------------



Two of the three cars sat there waiting, the Mini Cooper, and the VW Golf. Though the third was nowhere to be seen, as Jerry parked near them the two men once occupying the cars approached them.

"Who's this goon, and why is he here too?" One of them looked straight at Jack who was now wearing a cast.

"Me? I'm here to smack him in the head and beat him in the case that he loses my car that he's been borrowing. I may have a broken arm but I don't have a broken shot gun, and I knew he was up to something," Jack's acting was very promising.

"Dad! Stop, you're overreacting, we'll be fine!" Jerry believed Jack so much that he actually got confused.

"Alright, how do we know that your arm is actually broken and that you're not faking it? Planning on switching and winning?" One said as the other walked around to Jack's side of the car.

The man reached in the window and grabbed Jack's arm.

"AAARRRGHHH!!!!" Jack shouted as the man did his testing, the man soon came to a verdict.

"That is most definitely broken, I can feel it, the bone's out of place," the two men looked at each other for a second.

"Okay, we'll let you wait in there, just adds more weight to your car"[/COLOR] they said as they walked back. They sat there, all waiting for the third to turn up, before what was most likely him, rose over the top of the nearest hill, no one could say anything about it, other than it was red, and quite boxy...

"What a generic way to make your appearance, a dirt setting, driving over the nearest horizon, kicking the dirt up," Jerry sat back in frustration.

Jack realized what it was before everyone else and turned to Jerry,

"When we win, you're taking that. It's a good car, it's a..." Jack said as he turned back to look at the car which had arrived.

"Lancia Delta!?" Jerry shouted.

"Exactly," Jack said as he nodded.

"I thought Lancia's always broke down," Jerry looked a little confused.

"You've watched far too much Top Gear. No, not this one, this is what can happen when Lancia gets it right," Jack said as he looked at the car.

The man who popped out looked almost like a businessman, he wore a suit, tie, and even had black shiny shoes. Jerry got out of the Golf and walked towards the three men who were discussing something.

"Well, well, well... I'm surprised you showed up, I thought you'd be too afraid to lose your beloved Golf. We don't understand why you love that car, it's so vulgar, so... Uninteresting, that we'd only let Raleon drive it," the man said as he laughed at his own goon.

"Don't get your hopes up too much, Kai," Jerry looked at the group leader.

Raleon looked annoyed as his boss mocked him, and muttered something no one actually heard.

"So, the race will just be three laps, Raleon will start at the front, I'll start in second, Kez will start third, and you will start last. And also, race cleanly guys, I don't want my new dull Golf to be damaged when I get it, because then my newest member will be disappointed. It's starting to get dark everyone, so let's go," Kai said before everyone walked to their cars and got their positions sorted.

They waited as a woman stood at the start line, her clothing almost breaching the laws of public indecency. It looked like she would mark the start of the race. Luckily for Jack and Jerry, they were in last and no one would see them switch, so they made the change quickly, and a few seconds later the woman stood under one of the flood lights and started counting down.

"3! 2! 1! GO!!" She screamed as she swung a flag out in every driver's visibility.

"Come on, Jack, pass them already!!"

"Racing needs patience, or you'll just crash."

"I can hardly even see," Jack tried to get out of the dust to see"

"This could be it, I'm closing in."

At that moment the Mini suddenly slammed on its brakes.

"OH 🤬!!! He 🤬 brake tested me, to his own disadvantage."

"He's already passed Kez? How is he doing this, he was nowhere near this good last time I saw him drive."

"You're kidding right, he's almost got me too, I'm not letting him on through."

"This Delta guy is a really bad driver, has he ever heard of an apex!?"

"No, he hasn't. But he has definitely heard of power upgrades."

"WOAH!!! Here are the jumps!"

Jack pushed the Golf around the rest of the lap and soon caught up to the Lancia.

"Almost got him, almost."

"I ain't letting him pass me!!! Must keep to the plan and block him."

"The plan is working!"

"You've got to be 🤬 kidding me!" Kai grunted.

"Now we've got to catch this Golf. Looks like the other guys have held us up for a reason." Jack focused.

"YIIPEEEE!!! I'm remembering why I loved rallying all these years ago!" Jack threw the car around joyfully.

"Focus, Jack!," Jerry remarked.

"Okay, okay. I've almost caught him."

"Raleon will not lose! And I've taken to talking in third person..."

"Oh I've got you now!"

"Maybe I don't have you now? This guy is quick!"

"We've been running side by side for half a lap, he's got to stuff up sooner or later..."

"I think I've got him!"

"Got to show my worth to Kai! But is that what I really want?" Raleon questioned himself mid race.

"GOT HIM!!!"

"I think I made the right decision."

"It's all fun for the rest of the race..."

"YEEHAW!!"

Jack drove out of sight of where the others would see, and they switched seats again before returning to the start line. By now the other three had arrived already and Kai was obviously angered by the results. He had a large stick and was beating Raleon with it, shouting obscenities and giving out threats.

"How could you lose!? Your car is tuned, his one ISN'T! You must be one really pathe... Oh," Kai turned his attention to Jerry who stood out of his car and approached them.

"It was tuned today, so it was probably to similar specs as your cars, just to be fair. Now, if you don't mind, I think we had a deal?" Jerry looked back at the Delta.

"(sigh) Yes we did, which car do you want?" Kai's look of worry grew a little.

"That Lancia Delta please," Jerry smiled.

Kai was reluctant to give away the keys, but he knew that he was under an agreement and a rule he's always lived by. So he handed over the keys and smacked Raleon again with the stick. Jerry walked halfway back to the Delta before stopping and saying.

"You know what, Kai? Before I leave, I have one thing to say. Of all the people I've ever had to deal with, you are probably the most cruel, sad and pathetic of the lot. You beat your own colleagues for your own wrongs, and treat them like dirt. I'd say if both of these guys were to be honest, they probably hate you," Jerry couldn't wipe the smug smile off of his face as he realized how "badass" he felt.

But then Jerry heard a familiar sound, but one he has only ever heard in movies before. He turned around to see if his ears were correct, and they were... Jerry looked at Kai, and the gun that was pointing his way...

"I treat my men this way for good reason, I'm not a bad example. I show a perfect example of how DIRT! Should be treated," Kai aims at the ground near Jerry's feet and fires. The shot misses Jerry by millimeters.

"And if anyone is sad and pathetic, it's you. You come here, and get your confidence up, before insulting my entire clan... That is pathetic, now guys, if you don't mind... Take care of the young one," Kai stood back.

Around him more guns loaded. Kai smiled and looked around to immerse in the moment of his men standing for him, only for his smile to be wiped off of his face. The guns were faced directly towards Kai, and Kai froze.

"He insulted us, are we going to deal with that!?" he remained frozen and waited to see what happens next...

"You know what Kai, the both of us have sacrificed a lot for you, we've sacrificed our dreams, families, and almost 10 years of our lives... We've almost died for you, and yet you still treat us the same, as if we've never done a good thing for you in our lives... It's time for a change, as we can't deal with it," Raleon said as he remained in the same standing position...

Kai tried to act quickly, he pulled hi gun towards Raleon but in a split second a gun shot from behind send the gun flying from Kai's hand, and sent Kai onto the ground.

"RUN!!" Kez shouted.

Everyone ran to their cars, Jack switching into the Golf's driver's seat, Jerry into the Delta, they all evacuated. All except for Kez, as he sat in his Mini Cooper, he reversed 30 meters and made a dash towards Kai, who had now stood up. Kai was making a run for it, in hope to escape Kez, but his attempts were a failure, Kai jumped in an attempt for not go under the Mini, but was still hit, and the collision sent Kai flying over the top of the Mini and onto the ground. Kez stopped next to Kai's struggling body.

"Is THIS what you wanted, HUH!?" Kez shouted as he pointed his gun at the defenseless Kai.

He fired two shots at Kai, and watched him. He watched as Kai's body stopped trembling, his eyes glazed over, and the blood mixed with the dirt he laid in... Kez looked around.

"And never shall he burden us again," Kez said as he drove away.



-------------------



Jack and Jerry both sped in an attempt to get back to the apartment without being seen. Neither of the two were sure what they had witnessed, and didn't know if they had witnessed murder or not. Neither of them wanted to know, both knowing that the more they did know, the more it could hurt them in the future, in the case of being called in as witnesses, or suspects. Jack looked in his rear view mirror to see they were being followed by Raleon, so when they arrived at the apartment, they weren't sure what his intentions were. They ran into the building and locked the doors, and hid... In silence they waited.

"My driving work here is done, but I don't think my work is entirely done here," Jack said as he watched Jerry shaking as he sat under the table.

"Well, I think I may need your help, but really, you saved me back there. You worked hard to help me keep my car, but I had to be a smartass and cause all of that, it's my fault!" Jerry started to panic.

"Shut up, you didn't kill him, he killed himself by treating others like dirt... They say karma has its way, I would know," Jack threw the TV remote at Jerry, and the hit seemed to snap him back to reality.

"Well, you can have that Lancia Delta, you won it, not me," Jerry threw the keys over to Jack.

"Why the Delta?" Jack asked.

"Because I love Volkswagens, hence why I have a Golf," Jerry replied.

Jack looked over to the door, wondering if Raleon will find them or not. Suddenly Jack heard knocking on the door...

"Hello? It's Raleon, I want to apologize for the scare there... I'm not here to hurt you, Kez doesn't want to hurt you either. We actually want to thank you for helping us, Kai has been torturing us for almost 10 years, and we just needed the opportunity to end it, and you happened to be our saviour. Kai was just a power corrupted maniac, he must have learned it off his brother, Max Edge..." Raleon was interrupted.

The door swung open and Jack pulled Raleon in...

"What do you know about Max Edge?" Jack asked as he held Raleon to the wall...

"Let me go so I can tell you..." Raleon struggled...

Jack let him go but didn't keep his focus off of his movements...

"Well, I know that he lives in Europe now, he comes back to America on his usual murderous scheming business. He is currently here in America doing that now. I know some of the murders he has commited too for money. He was the cause for Jack Cytranear's downfall. Made loads off of his..." Raleon was interrupted again...

"I think Jack here would be aware of that already..." Jerry pointed at Jack and mouthed "he IS Jack Cytranear."

"Oh, Jack, now I have a name to add to that face. Nice to meet you," Raleon shaked Jack's hand and continued.

"He killed a man in Japan called Katsuo Takahashi, who was a rich businessman with a taste for speed, made millions off of him, and left him dead in a bush. No one found him for 3 weeks. And he killed a man around here named Brian Wilsborough, another businessman. He invited him to a high speed illegal street race at night. He put on motorbike safety gear along with all this extra padding before he got in, a sweating heap he must have been. He faked a spin, and then drove backwards around the track layout before jumping out the door and watching the two cars collide head on, killed the man instantly, again Edge made millions off of him... That's all I know, he's here to finish off that job right now," Raleon leaned on the wall.

"Well that's news to me. Some valuable information too," Jack in his head was desperate to get back try and get forgiveness from Diane now, but tried to hide it from Jerry and Raleon.

"Well, here's my number. If you ever need a driver, or help with some business I'm at your service," Raleon handed Jack a card, and then Jack handed both Raleon and Jerry cards which had his number...

"Just if either of you get into trouble..." Jack smiled.

"However, I really must apologize, but I must get moving now," Jack walked towards the door.

"Really? Right now?" Jerry looked confused.

"Yes, right now... Bye guys, important matters call," he closed the door behind him and then literally jumped into the Delta before taking off, heading back from where he came when he was with Diane... Only worrying for what may have already happened...

-----------------

As I stated earlier, sorry for the time gap. The thread hasn't been accessible for quite a long time for me due to Error 502. Thankfully with GTP's issues today, Jordan has been able to resolve the issue and I can get back to updating. Thanks to you who understand, and still support whatever you want to call this by commenting and liking.

 

[SomePlayaDude]

Only major problem: Needs more readers. Some work organizing on what's what, who's who, and that sorta thing would be kind of what i need (I got initially confused who is what color.)

And to me personally, Raleon's light blue text. Try cornflowerblue, deepskyblue, dodgerblue or royalblue. But all that aside, is some fine mighty reading.

 

[Michelin]

hehehehehe can't wait for the next chapter.

 

[Skython]

Only major problem: Needs more readers. Some work organizing on what's what, who's who, and that sorta thing would be kind of what i need (I got initially confused who is what color.)

The readers issue is because my release schedule is completely awful in every way (there isn't one).

And to me personally, Raleon's light blue text. Try cornflowerblue, deepskyblue, dodgerblue or royalblue. But all that aside, is some fine mighty reading.

I never knew those colours existed, thank you. I have zero knowledge of what colours there are, I used to just pick a colour on the old GTP and it would appear. Now they aren't there so I have to blindly guess.

I've considered ways to make character colour introductions easy for readers, like just having it all in the OP. But I decided that it would sort of ruin the idea of introducing new characters. Because then they know, "oh there's a character named God, does the main character die in the end?" (PS: No, God does not appear in this story.)

Thanks for the feedback, SPD.

hehehehehe can't wait for the next chapter.

Thanks for visiting, liking, and commenting, Michelin. And the wait is over, making this the smallest interval between chapters ever.

Another thanks to @RCKakashi14 and @Turbotwin01 for liking the chapter.

--------------------------------
​

Chapter 6: Living Bad Dreams
​

Endless streetlights passed behind the speeding Lancia Delta as Jack raced down the freeway. Jack himself completely caught up in Edge's schemes once again, only this time it isn't of his own doing. He knew that innocent lives could be saved, and it's up to him to stop it. Driven by fear, but still fearing the outcome of his current action, Jack pressed the accelerator more and more...

It wasn't long before Jack had arrived at his destination. He slowly pulled up outside Diane's house, and he looked around to see anything he could relate to Edge. Finding nothing he approached the house, knocking on the door, all seemed normal. Even though it was midnight, Jack knew there was no time to waste, so he knocked louder. A disgruntled groan came from inside as the door slowly opened...

Diane stood at the door, and her dissatisfaction with the time turned into a dissatisfaction of all sorts imaginable...

"Oh, for **** sake, it's you. You've come to get your ****?" Diane stared angrily at Jack.

"No, no. I have some information you really need to know," Jack stated as he looked around.

"You race... On the streets, killing innocent people, what more is there I need to know?" Diane pushed the door into Jack's face.

Jack stops the door with his foot.

"I know who killed him," Jack pushed the door back open and stared directly into Diane's eyes.

"What?" Diane frowned more.

"Your father, please just let me in, and I'll tell you everything," Jack persuaded.

"Fine... But don't go thinking this makes up for anything, you're still scum," Diane walked back down the hallway and Jack followed, closing the door behind him.

They sat down in the lounge with just a few lamps on around the room.

"Okay, so you were right. The job was an illegal race, but the intentions were good. This guy accidentally got involved with a street gang who pushed him into a pink slip event. Which means if he loses, they take his car. If he wins, he gets their car. He needed me to win the race because he couldn't afford it. But that doesn't matter, after the race... Something... Something violent happened. I'll tell you another time, but... One of the gang members, well they're not members now... But still, he told me that his leader's brother was the same guy I got scammed by all those years ago... He also said he was responsible for other murders... Like Brian Wilsborough..." Jack looked at Diane again.

Diane was stuck not knowing how to react, she was frozen for a few moments as she soaked in the news...

"Did you get a name?" Diane asked, her face read as blank. Jack was confused by the emotion.

"Max Edge, it's not his real name. But that's what he's known as," Jack explained.

"And after he scammed you, he killed your family, right?" Diane asked...

"We need to get out of here. The sooner the better, this guy also said that Edge is here in the USA, right now. On finishing business," Jack stated.

"... Okay, where are we going?" Diane asked.

"Don't know yet, we just need safety right now. Andy and Dillan will need to come with us, otherwise Edge will take them too, let's go," Jack stood up.

Diane stood up too, and they stood for a moment in silence, and then Andy walked into the room.

"Diane, what's even going..." Andy suddenly became silent as he noticed Jack's presence.

"We've got to go Andy, right now. Far away," Diane looked over to Andy.

"We've got to go quick. Where's Dillan?" Jack asked.

"Not here, he's off on a trip with his friends in an old van," Diane looked back to Jack.

"Call him later, we need to go" Jack walked through the kitchen towards the hallway.

Suddenly Jack heard the front door creep open, in response Jack dived behind the kitchen bench and grabbed a knife from the bench.

"Get in the lounge," Jack whispered to Diane and Andy.

They followed Jack's orders... Jack heard someone creeping closer, and then Jack heard a mutter that was familiar... He peeked above the bench to see a figure standing in the room, facing away from him. Jack flicked the lightswitch on and stood in clear view of the figure...

"Jack! Aaah, what a pleasant surprise, fancy seeing you here. How are you?" Edge said in his usual calm manner, he stood confidentally and faced Jack.

"I know what you're doing, Edge," Jack stared at Edge.

"Well how unfortunate, you ruined the surprise, I know exactly where they are, Jack. I'm not stupid. I'm everywhere that I need to be, whether you're walking, talking... Breathing, I have sources," Edge reached under a cabinet and pulled out a small radio and showed Jack the small headset he was wearing.

"I've been listening ever since you got here. It was by my choice that I came in anyway, I know that you're a coward. You'd sacrifice anything for a little attention, wouldn't you?" Edge smiled and made a dash towards the lounge.

"No!" Jack chased Edge in a rush.

Jack soon found that neither Diane or Andy had hidden very well and almost immediately Edge had them both within arms reach. Jack rushed and ripped Edge backwards and then held his knife at Edge's throat and Edge just looked at Jack smugly.

"What are you waiting for... Do it," Edge was confident of Jack's lack of confidence.

"Court trial, conviction. We have two witnesses here, will you kill them too? I guess you'll just be remembered as that freak who killed some people rather than the great rally racer," Edge remained calm.

Diane and Andy watched in fear as Jack stood there... Edge eventually got impatient and just pushed Jack to the side and ran out of the building. Jack ran after him but it was too late. Edge had evacuated. Jack walked back into the house.

"We have to go, he'll be back." Jack stared at Diane and Andy who still hadn't move, frozen in fear.

"He was in our house... How?" Diane whimpered.

"He's a skilled freak, he gets things done. So we really have to go," Jack urged to leave the house.

After an extended silence Jack was able to peel Diane off the wall and then they left the house.

---------------------------------

End of Chapter 6​

Just a short chapter for now, but listen up!​

Drivers needed!​

In the near future I will need three drivers to help me create a scene for a future driving related event of the story. It's a four driver event including me, so three more drivers are needed.

If you can give me a hand, drop a word in for the comments, it would be much appreciated. Once I have enough drivers, I'll send out a PM to you all (or chat, whatever it's called now). My preference is that you have a mic, but it's not a necessity. It just makes it slightly easier to communicate throughout the scene to have it go to plan.

 

[Michelin]

Ok, that's a turning point, I didn't expect to see Edge to appear right now...

I THINK I can help you, I'm not so sure hahaha

 

[Turbotwin01]

That was a great chapter. Probably the best so far. Keep it up 👍

 

[SVX]

Short but sweet, very nicely done. 👍