Moving Metal (Acceleracers)

001 ~ Highway 35

Genre: Comedy, Friendship

Word Count: 1,728 

Pairing: ?? 

World: Other, Acceleracers 

I stared at the passing scenery of the coast road, mouthing the lyrics to the song filling my right ear. The left was empty in case Taro had something to say. It wasn't very likely, seeing as he's the quiet type. I'd rather not take my chances though – the last time I listened to music and he tried to talk to me, he got so annoyed that he broke my music player. Getting him to buy me a new one took a lot of convincing and even took getting our leader involved to guilt him into doing it. Thank you, Tork!

I glanced over at Taro before moving my eyes to his window. From the way he was driving, the view of the ocean was on his side of the car while I got to stare at a large rock formation. I offered to drive just for that reason, but Taro isn't too keen on letting other people drive his car. Or sit on it. Or touch it in general, really.

My eyes shifted to the side mirror where Monkey's car, Rolling Thunder, was close behind us. A few feet behind him was our infamous leader, Tork. He's the king of the show tonight, taking on the leader of our rivals, the Teku. To be honest, no matter who wins, it's not going to take away the anger Nolo has for our leader. Long story short, Tork raced Nolo's older brother a while back. Nolo's brother got cocky and made a mistake. The price? His life.

Ever since then, Tork has been hiding feelings of guilt and doubt. On the other hand, Nolo goes out of his way to show his hatred for Tork. Kinda pisses me off, but I'm always told to stay out of it.

"Hey," Taro smacked my arm. "Turn that off, we're almost there."

A small patch of land stretched out from the road, overlooking the water. All of the Teku drivers were there, waiting for us to arrive. Well, I assume they're waiting, though it seems more like they're having a party.

With a scowl, I shove my music player into the pocket of my hoodie just as Taro comes to a stop on the side of the road, Monkey right behind. As we stepped out of his car, it became apparent that there was some serious tension between Nolo and one of his members, Vert.

Despite being on the rival team, I was actually pretty cool with Vert. Taro would never admit it nor act like it, but he also has nothing against the blonde teen.

"Hey! Are you Teku here to race, or to fight?" Taro called. It was soon followed by the screeching of tires as Tork made his entrance. Nolo's attention immediately went to him. Even if I didn't know about the rivalry, the head-turning really wouldn't surprise me.

The Metal Maniacs are full of huge, burly guys with the exception of myself – since I'm a chick – and Monkey – since he's a twig. However, Tork is the largest of the group. When I first met him, I actually thought he was going to kill me.

He stepped out of the car and the two leaders stared each other down. It was pretty typical, really. I moved to sit on the hood of Taro's Road Runner, checking my watch for the time. I knew that Mark had to be on his way up here even though we made sure that no one told him about the race tonight. It's not that he's a bad driver or that we hate him, it's just...

Well, to put it simply, Mark is a lot like Nolo. He has a grudge that he won't let go and it fuels him to make bad decisions. Plus Mark is like a wild lion, there's no taming him OR telling him what to do. He just won't listen to reason.

After a few more minutes passed, Taro shooed me off his car and the two leaders lined up to begin the race. Monkey had a light device to let them know when to start and he was also in charge of making sure the road was clear of pedestrian drivers. Street racing is always fun, but when you add civilians to the mix... well, it can get pretty messy.