Biker Mice From Mars - Redline

17: Assault!

The Members of Project: D ran over to Akio and Tetsuya in the Pit area as they got out of their cars. Manuel gave each of them a high-five, ecstatic as to how they had ran!

"That was awesome! Good work!" Manuel exclaimed.

Wraish and Team Overdrive watched on from a distance, seething from the loss. Terrance Tiger, the youngest member of Team Overdrive was seething the most, and lost his temperament. He grabbed a torque wrench from one of the pit mechanics and threw it, nailing Keisuke in the arm! There was an audible cracking noise, and Keisuke let out a loud yell, grabbing his left arm!

"You think just because you're a dominating team on your planet, that you are so good!" Terrance snapped, walking forward with both fists balled up, grabbing Keisuke by the shirt and delivering a gut-punch hard into his abdomen! Takumi quickly stepped in with Manuel and Rysouke, helping to break things up just as security arrived. Even Wraish stepped forward, trying to separate the two, though he seemed not to put in as much effort as the others.

"Wraish, you were warned when this competition started about your tricks!" Scabbard snapped after the two were separated. "This incident is going to the stewards office!" Scabbard got on his radio, and called for the stewards to make a decision on how to punish Team Overdrive's unsportsmanlike behavior.

A few minutes later, he got his answer. "Team Overdrive now has a ten-point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Terrance Tiger will now have to skip the next event."

Terrance rolled his eyes as he was led back over to his team's garage. "Totally worth it," He said with a sneer.

Manuel glared at Terrance, then Ryosuke tapped him on the shoulder as Medics examined Keisuke's injuries from the torque wrench.

The lead medic delivered some crushing news. "His arm has a hairline fracture. I'm sorry Mr. Vernandez, but Keisuke Takahashi isn't going to be able to compete in any more events until his arm is healed,"

Manuel's eyes went wide. "What?! But... But the Dual Tandem Drift event is next! We only have a few days to prepare! Keisuke was supposed to represent Project: D along with Takumi!"

"Sorry, Mr. Vernandez, the doctor says that Keisuke's going to need to take it easy with his arm until we can heal it," The medic said. "Until then, no racing. Doctor's orders."

Manuel huddled with Ryosuke, Throttle, and Bunta. "What the hell are we supposed to do?! Keisuke was the only suitable driver from our team to pair up with Takumi for that event!"

Bunta turned to look at Shinji, standing with the Freedom fighter pit crew. "...Maybe we can organize a substitute."

Ryosuke quickly figured out what Bunta was getting at. "Shinji is the only driver besides Keisuke that's ever come close to Takumi's skill. Shinji nearly beat him, after all."

Manuel quickly caught on. "Throttle, how long will it take for you to get to Earth and back?"

"With our ships? It's a six hour round trip," Throttle answered. "Why?"

"Grab a spaceship and head back to Earth with Shinji to pick up his car," Manuel said. "He kept going on about wanting to be a racing hero when he went up against Takumi, right? Tell him this is his chance."

# # # # # #

Six Hours Later...

Yuya looked over Shinji's Notchback Eight-Six alongside Takumi's Hatchback Eight-Six with two Freedom Fighter mechanic teams, seeing what they could upgrade and tweak to give Shinji and Takumi the best edge possible for the Drift Tandem event. Extra detail was given to Shinji's Eight-Six, as the team working on his car was in the process of cleaning and rebuilding his engine.

Yuya watched vigilantly as a few members of the team reassembled the modified 4-AGE block after porting and polishing the engine head, and giving the valves new seals and checking the valve springs.

Yuya was impressed by how Shinji's Eight-Six was tuned. "Your mechanic made a good choice with the camshafts, as well as the valve springs. No wonder you came close to beating Takumi, your engine is able to rev up to 11,000 RPM."

"But... Will it be enough?" Shiji asked. "I ended up losing to Takumi..."

"Don't put so much negativity on yourself," Yuya said. "Takumi's now your teammate, and you two need to work together if you want to have any shot at all at winning this event. We still have two days to practice, and with the help of these mechanics, I'm projecting your engine will be done in a few hours. So be ready to practice with Takumi when that time comes."