Act IV: The Shadow of the Midnight.
September 19
Volcanic Complex
10:00PM
“This was to be seen,” Snake said calmly to himself, “but it still troubles me. He’s grown in skill no doubt, but… so reckless.” Snake peers onto the prepping Shev and Crimson, becoming lost in thought. “Hm, anyhow… this pressure is stifling me… what is it? Is it the uncertainty of victory of these heated bouts? Or… is it the presence of another? In any case, it’s too familiar for my liking. For now, I’ll just have to see and wait what happens.” H turns around and looks over the downhill landscape. “This night is becoming interesting.” Shev walked over to Snake. “We’re about to head out”, Shev said, “ any words? “Not really”, Snake replied, “but know this. Failure is not an option at this juncture in time. We’ve lost one … sudden death in now the name of the game.”
“I won’t lose.”
“Many have said similar, many weren’t fortunate.”
“Wow, I’m truly inspired for victory.”
“Just sayin don’t get cocky.”
“… There is no other that I wish to defeat more that he.”
“Ah, the feeling is mutual. I bet he’s gunning for you too. Remember that.”
“Ready to take you on.” Crimson horned from across the lot. Shev and Crimson got into their cars and lined up on the uphill. Snake came to Shev’s driver side. “Can you take him?” Snake said.” Shev looked all around the cockpit and then back at Snake. “Should’ve brought the evo …”, Shev replied, “ My silvia ain’t as fancy as your swap, but it’ll still come out ahead.” Snake smirked, fist bumped Shev’s shoulder, and headed off to the line. “Cat and Mouse”, Crimson said through his open window, “we run till you fall behind.” Or till your tires shred.” Shev replied. The melody of revving engines filled the air. All eyes are on Snake’s dropping hands.
10:10PM
They blasted out of the gate, with the nsx leading the first run. Both attacked the first corner with fierce aggression. The nsx bolted out of the corner with greater speed, but the turbocharged s15 caught up mid-straight. Shev tried to pass but the next corner came up too quickly. The nsx dove into the corner, increasing the gap from apex to exit. Shev had to go on throttle quickly to have enough time to catch up with power. “I may be lighter, but it’s nose heavy”, Shev thought to himself, “can’t rely on straightaways; only get shorter from here on out. Just stick to the plan and don’t get too absorbed in this match.” “I have to end this quickly”, Crimson said in thought, “to get…his attention. He’s on this mountain too, I just feel it. I bet he knows I’m here too. Well then… consider this race a sent challenge!” Tail to nose, the two sped through the course passing a wrecked 180sx that was benched on the shoulder. They came upon the final stretch of downhill, consisting of slightly banked hairpins. Crimson changed his tactics. Rather than his usual style of sharp diving into corners he kept to the outer lane with careful pace. This was a welcomed break in events as far as Shev was concerned but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it. Though he wished to take advantage of such behavior, there was not enough straight to gain enough ground to take the inside. All he could do is watch and try to make sense of it all. They approached the line but with a calmness than was out of place with the aggressive pace of the battle. The downhill was complete.
10:19PM
The two turned around lined up for the uphill. Hei would launch the uphill run. Hei glared at Shev’s s15 then directly at Crimson, irritated about a prolonged battle. He dropped his hands and watched as the two bolted onto the mountain pass. Vanishing behind the trees and mist, only the rumble of a fiercely fought battle gave hint of their presence. These warriors of the street would have at it eight more rounds.
11:42PM
Crimson and Shev lined up for the uphill. Drained of most of their fight, only the feeling of the steering wheel grasped within their hands kept them conscious. “I can’t keep this up for long”, Shev said to himself, “but I’m sure he’s in the same boat. Just a bit longer.” The race started once again. With weary minds and worn tires, they blasted toward the first uphill corner. The s15 lead the run, try to gain as much ground as possible with its advantage in acceleration. Shev feigned toward the outside then dove at the apex. Tailing, the nsx hugged the apex hugged the apex. The s15 increased gap from its acceleration, but the nsx caught up at the next corner with late braking. The dwindling front bite became frighteningly apparent as the s15 almost graced the outer railing with metallic paint during corner exit of a hairpin. The nsx stuck to the inside, hoping to gain advantageous staging for the next turn. Shev tried to outrun the nsx to the corner but it was too late. The s15 had to slowly hug the leftward apex while the nsx had the advantage of being ahead on the outside. Crimson tried to power out of the corner early, but the nsx too had suffered from worn tires. It lost traction, swerving to the inside, hitting the s15’s driver side door. The s15 was thrusted into the railing though the damage cosmetic with the exception of Shev sustaining minor bruising yet the race continued on. Shev recovered from the shunt and tried to get the s15 back on track. Unaware of the unintended and seeing the nsx pass by, Shev burned with anger. Guided purely by rivalry and rage, s15 became an instrument for victory… by any means.
“That was a close one”, Crimson said in thought, “that’s what happens when you get too lead foot in such a delicate predicament. I should’ve slowed down since it was my fault, but there is too much at stake for such formalities. Best watch my six for the rest of the run.” The nsx was five car lengths ahead of the s15. The course was starting to straighten out. The nsx attacked the next corner with confidence but it felt off to Crimson. Shortly after counter steering during corner exit, Crimson felt a sharp buckle within the car. The car kept veering to the left. “F#$@”, Crimson exclaimed, “typical… at the end of the course too. Karma…” Crimson kept on despite not being able to keep the car stable on straights. Shev, hell-bent on taking the win, used all his being to gain ground. Not being able to utilize full potential of the nsx, it would be inevitable that the s15 would catch up. “I can hold on”, Crimson thought, “the finish line is a stone’s throw away. I won’t block, but I’ll keep stay in the middle to give him a hard time. There is one I wish defeat more other than he, but in order to race that individual, I must win here.” The s15 was just a few feet behind. At the next corner, the nsx once again made it a habit to stay on the outside lane. The s15 once again feigned then dived toward the inside to minimize counter steer. There was one more corner between them and the finish. Shev tightly tailed the nsx, waiting for an opportunity to pass. As they went further into the straight, the nsx slightly moved to the left, giving shev room to pass. The s15 slowly took the inside and nosed ahead. The nsx once again gained lead with late braking, but its damaged left front wheel kept it from taking advantage of its nimbleness. The nsx pushed further to the outside giving the s15 to ample opportunity to take the lead. Nose to nose at corner exit, it would be the torque of the turbocharger that would gain victory’s favor.
As they both pulled in the lot, both separated and headed toward their teams spot. Shev opened the door pulled himself out with effort. Snake came and brought bottled water. “Well met.” Snake said. Snake took a step back to get a good look of the s15. “Not going to even ask”, Snake remarked, “hope my car is not going to end up like this.” “The way I see it, you’re going to have it harder”, Shev said, “it’s now a tie. The night’s on the line. Expect him to pull all the stops.”
“So close, but I screwed it up”, Crimson said to Matt, “Hei’s going to give me an ear full. “Speak of the devil”, Matt replied looking at Hei’s r32 roll up. Hei parked at the line then walked toward the rest of his team members. “I expected more of you”, Hei said with stoic disappointment, “you should have had this…at the first run. Why did you lower your ride that much…?” “Crimson look puzzled. “Don’t think I haven’t figured it out”, Hei raised his voice; “I sent some of the team to bystand the race. I when I got word that you slowed downed at the end of the first run I was puzzled. When you headed uphill, I went to take a quick look at where you slowed down. I thought to myself, “what of it” when I saw those steep hairpins. Then I just knew. You’re not well verse in tuning your car for body roll, so it pretty obvious the lowered height was a quick fix. You should've let me tune your car beforehand. You also have a habit of keeping your ride mint so I suppose you didn’t want that nice front end of your car to shovel into the pavement. Not quite a problem on the uphill but on the downhill…” Hei knelt down to analyze the damaged area on the nsx. “I suppose it was all for naught anyway.” Hei walked off to prepare for the final battle.
12:00PM
“A race to the bottom”, Hei said through his window, “first one to the bottom claims the night. Snake nodded and turned to face Shev who was starting the race. The second his hands reached hood level, the two rocketed downhill. Shev walked off the road then onto the side. “Hm…better win, I’ve busted my butt”, Shev quietly said, “literally.” Hearing a roaring noise coming his way behind him, Shev turned around. He saw a dark object with orange lights approach the downhill. It blasted past him. A grey M3..?” Shev said to himself, “such speed. Who is that?
Snake and Hei thundered downhill. By Hei’s surprise, the s14 put up a stronger fight than anticipated. “Funny”, Hei thought, “now I know. But why did you than in a s14? Hei’s r32 had the advantage at corner exit, but the s14 had superb low end acceleration and corner entry. A stalemate of driver and machinery was reached on the touge. At the halfway point of the course the r32 was leading, though by a slim margin. “Feeling a bit lightheaded here” Snake thought and then looked into the review mirror, “what…an interloper? He better not mess up our run.” The three reached the next corner with the stranger taking the outside. The M3 out braked snake and overtook him mid corner. “Hmm…yes, you must be him”, Hei said, “I heard a bit about you from Crimson. Let’s see if you’re as good as the tales suggest.” The battle that would determine the fate of two teams would be influenced by one that belonged to neither. Snake still held his pace with Hei. The mysterious stranger obstructed Snakes ability to overtake Hei. The M3 had similar traits as Hei’s r32 in that it had no lack in high end torque. This gave Snake some leverage in gaining the upper hand right out of corner exit which was perfectly suited for the decreasing time between corners. “I got you now”, Snake said pulling alongside the stranger after a corner, “you won’t have enough time to build that power up huh?” though the M3 had better braking prowess, Snake built enough ground to keep the lead at the corner. Hei still was leading the pack, but his heavy r32 was slowly being stifled by the tighter hairpins. Snake knew this well and methodically attempted to outrace Hei to each hairpin. Snake nosed ahead on the outside and out-braked Hei. There were only two more corners left till the finish. Hei tried to pull ahead but didn’t have enough low end torque to regain position. Unexpectedly, the M3 tightly tailed the s14. Snake pulled in front of Hei, but the M3 still continued to take the inner lane. “He wasn’t this fast before.” Snake thought as he saw the M3 inch up. The three racers reached the first of the final pair of corners. The M3 braked and made a shift to the outside line. Fearing collision, Snake slowed down and took the inside at the apex. This gave Hei an opportunity to regain ground by taking the outside. Loosing boost from the reaction, Snake could not utilize the hearty low end torque that gave him the advantage earlier. Hei pulled beside Snake, racing to the final corner. Both were neck and neck in the shadow of the mysterious opponent. Hei tried to late brake but the r32 was too heavy and pushed deeper into the corner forcing Snake to take the whole outer length of the corner. Snake pulled ahead with low end prowess but nearing the end of the final stretch Hei’s strength of top end resulted in catching up with Snake. They both crossed the line, but the victor was neither of the two. Both Hei and Snake pulled to the side of the road and got out, watching the burning orange light of their unknown opponent flicker and vanish into the abyss of the foothills. つつ”く