Louis had never been so embarrassed in his life. Among all the mistakes he made, this was probably the worse.
He was that arrogant until he thought he could race a professional on a track that he even wasn't familiar with. Not knowing even the basis of drifting and just trying it out from the get go.
His Mercedes crashed along the corner, it had collided on the guardrail. There were marks on the side door. All a scar of his mistake. Mentally for him and physically for Mercy.
Suddenly, Louis saw two pairs of headlights in the distance. A sound of an engine roaring to him.
"Huh?"
Then he recognized the car. A blue R34 skyline GT-R. It slowed and stopped next to Louis. The windows lowered down revealing a blue haired teen.
"Man, they weren't kidding about another car crash! Are you hurt?" It was JL that just came back from his race to help him.
"Yeah, I'm ok."
___________________________________
(Back on the summit)
It was less crowded as before on the summit, many of the racers had called it a night and went back home. Joel was inspecting the Mercedes' engine with its hood up with Louis standing helplessly at the side, worried about Mercy's condition.
The brown hair finally looked up from the engine and multiple inspection throughout the car. He shook his head in disappointment.
"When you collided with the guardrail, you also damaged the suspension," Joel explained. "That'll be a big blow in your handling."
"Can it be fixed?" Louis asked, a desperate tone in his voice.
"Yeah...." Joel paused, unsure of how to answer it.
"......But it's gonna cost a lot." Joel continued which made Louis saddened again.
"It's all my fault.........." The hoodie sighed hopelessly.
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Episode Four~Louis' mistake
(A few days later...)
".....now class, turn your textbooks to page 18 and read the text quietly. We'll discuss afterward." The teacher announced.
It was another Monday again and a schooling day for Louis. Everyone in the class seems to be in a cheerful mood except the hoodie who was gloomy throughout the whole lesson. That's when Rachel noticed his abnormal behavior.
___________________________________
(After school)
"So any luck?" Louis asked anxiously at the school gates. JL and Joel shook their heads.
"We used the library's computer to surfed the internet. The thing is, all the suspension replacements were just too expensive." Joel sighed.
"And let's not forget the repair fee too," JL added to make matters worse.
"Well, we need to leave early today. Let's come back tomorrow to sort this mess out." The two then turn and ran to their cars, waving Louis goodbye. He miserably waves back and walked home with his hoodie up and hands kept in it's pockets.
That's when someone tapped his right shoulder.
"Whoa!" Louis screams in shock. He turned around swiftly to see that it was only he's best friend Rachel.
"Hey, you don't have to scream like that!" She placed her hand on her chest. "I almost had a heart attack!!"
"And you don't have to sneak up on me like that!" Louis fired back. "Geez, couldn't you thought of a more pleasant approach?"
"Sorry, but I need to speak to you." She demanded, getting into business.
"Alright, what is it?" Louis asked, annoyed.
"Well...err.." she tried to remember what she wanted to say. Placing a index finger on her chin and staring to space before getting it. "Why are you so gloomy all of a sudden?"
This question worried Louis. "OH CRAP! I can't tell her about the elements! What do I say??!!" He struggled to find an excuse.
"It's.......my car...it's......" Louis babbled. Rachel leaned forward in curiosity.
"You went racing right?" She asked with an unsurprised expression.
"Ya, I kinda did......" Louis scratched his head. The blonde rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on, you can tell me. I also went to race when I first got my S30." She told Louis. "You what? Popped a tyre? Steer into a wall? Or did you thought the clutch pedal was the brakes?"
Finally, Louis spilled the beans.
"Alright, I crashed my car at my first race!" He admitted. However, he felt more relieved to tell someone about his problem.
"Wow, really? Is your car badly damaged?" She asked, concerned.
"Yeah, it collided with the guardrail that smashed the suspension. My friends tried to help but replacing the suspension cost a lot." Louis explained and sighed. "It's impossible I'll be able to earn that much money."
"And have you tried asking Mr. Kenner?" Rachel referred to the mechanic. Louis instantly slapped his forehead.
"Mr. Kenner! How could I forget about him!" He realized.
"We gotta go there now!" He demanded and started to run.
"I'll meet you at his garage," Louis yelled before running to his house.
"Err....okay," Rachel grunted behind. "And that's why you should have told me silly." She said to herself.
___________________________________
(An hour later...)
Rachel had already arrived when Louis came. He had to drive Mercy slowly because of the damaged suspension. He also told the Mercedes not to speak when being inspected. Then Louis parked his car inside the garage. He greeted Mr. Kenner and then the man went to work.
"So the suspensions are damaged," said Mr. Kenner as he examines the front right side of the dented body panel.
"Can it be fixed?" Louis asked anxiously.
Mr. Kenner examines the car to bottom again. Then he finally came with a conclusion.
"Well, the problem isn't bad and that it can be fixed....." Mr. Kenner paused as Louis waited for him to continue his sentence.
"But, as you can see my stock is very low now and I don't have any extra parts." Mr. Kenner chuckles nervously while Louis gives an annoyed expression.
"I'm sorry Louis, I really like to help you but the next shipments of parts is next week," Mr. Kenner explained "Say, why not you wait till next week for the repair huh? I'll even install it for you free of charge!"
Louis nodded miserably. "Okay, thanks anyway." He thanked the mechanic in a boring, sad tune and left.
Mr. Kenner looked at his new employee in the distance calling a cab. "I know how you would feel Louis. Damaging your new car is heartbreaking."
"But never have I seen someone so depressed by their mistake like that. Almost as if he treated this car as a friend, like a living person."
"And he blamed all the fault to himself. For injuring it."
___________________________________
(The next day...)
The school bells rang. Signaling that school was over. The afternoon wasn't sunny as clouds were scattered across the sky. Louis was walking to the school's gate with JL and Joel.
"So did you get it repaired?" JL asked. Louis sadly shook his head.
"No, I had to wait till next week for the parts." Louis sighed. "It's been quite lonely without my partner to talk to. Man, I'm going crazy thinking about talking to a car."
"We know how it feels man." JL assured him, wanting to be in the same level as him. "We have partners ourselves, your not alone in this."
"Thanks, you're actually awesome JL." Louis said with a glitter of friendliness to the blue hair who only smiled back.
Joel then thought of a solution to cheer him up. Finally, he found one.
"Hey, since tomorrow is a public holiday why not we bring you for the race tonight? We'll all go together!" Joel suggested.
"Yeah, you could also get to learn some techniques from the other racers," JL added. After hearing both of his friend's advice, Louis agreed.
"Well I wouldn't mind," He said. "If it is about to distract me from all this."
"Alright, it's settled then!" Joel happily announced.
"The meeting starts at 12 am on the Federal highway. See you all there!"
___________________________________
( later...)
When Louis reached home, he took a shower and changed his dirty clothes into another clean set.
Then he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling unable to escape the guilt of his arrogance that caused Mercy to crash.
*Tires squealing*
*CRASH!!*
"Mercy are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just a starch at my side door."
"I'm sorry man, I just got cocky and lost my mind."
"I told you not to race and now look what you have done to your partner!"
"Luckily now your car is fine but you won't be lucky at the second."
"I'll beat you next time!!"
The thoughts played in his head. Over and over until he soon went to sleep.
Time passed and after a few hours he woke up when he heard car horns outside the house. He got off his bed and looked from the window. It was JL's R34 GT-R.
___________________________________
After JL had picked Louis up from his house, they took no time to go straight to the racers meeting.
The location of the meeting was in a open space parking lot really close to the federal highway. It took them some time until JL and Louis soon reached the area as Joel was wanting on the second floor of the parking lot with the rest of the racers. The R34 parked next to Joel's skyline coupe.
"Hey, has it started?" JL asked as soon he got out of the car.
"No, you're just in time," Joel answered. "We're starting in a another minute when the staff notify us that the highway would be clear.
Suddenly, a different group of street racers came into the parking lot that shocked the others. Their cars were heavily modified with sick aero parts, exhaust upgrades and door panels filled with stickers that made everyone attracted to it. Looking like a local street racing gang coming in to claim their dominance no one asked for.
Then a guy came out of his yellow Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. He was middle build and was in his thirties. He wore a black shirt with a black jacket and jeans. He also had a lot of tattoos covering his body that made him looked like a street hoodlum. Everyone was silenced when his gang came in.
"Hey, what's with the silence?" The man asked with an accent from the Malay people in the area, "We won't bite." His chuckles were followed by his gang.
Then Airi stepped forward boldly.
"Listen, we don't want any trouble ok. We're just a normal car meet here wanting to have fun." She calmly reasoned with them. The man chuckles again.
"We were just passing by here when we saw your little meetup. So me and my boys thought of we had a little race with you folks if it's fine by you. Just to show you who really rules the streets in this area." The man said in a sinister tone. Airi's anger built a little.
"I decline the offer, we don't wanna race other racers that we don't know. So if you could just leave and let's forgot about this whole thing." She told them sternly. Then the gang members began scanning the parking lot at the rest of racers.
"Hey, boss these kids look too young to be street racers." One of the goons told to his boss.
"Yeah, just how old are you snots? You better have a driver's licenses or I'm calling the cops up here." The man snapped.
Louis hidden amongst the crowd began to grind his teeth in anger.
"Who the hell do these guys think they are!" He thought angrily.
"That's none of your business, of course we all have licenses here!" A racer angrily yells.
"Yeah! What's with you??!"
"Yeah!"
"Man, I can't stand how you pukes are racing cars, pretending to be street racers." The man began to taunt them. "It makes me sick."
"Hey, watch your mouth there!" Joel angrily yelled, he had enough of this sick show. The racer looked at him with a sinister smile.
"Oh, I'm so scared!!" He says playfully in a child's voice, taunting Joel. The rest of his gang laughs. That's when Joel approached the man while he was laughing and kicked the dude's stomach.
He howled in pain and the rest of the audience cheered. The gang then rolled their selves to avenge their leader when he signaled them to stop. Still in pain, he stood.
"You wanna be tough kid? Alright let's dance." The man got ready to fight. "You'll be so plump that you'll remain in the hospital for months. That'll teach you a lesson."
"STOP IT!" Airi yelled. "Fine, we'll play by your rules as long no one gets hurt."
The crowd then whispered loudly, not wanting to be ruled by some street gang pricks.
"Ha ha, alright fine!" The man said and announced. "Then I'll challenge you to a race boy!"
"Fine by me." Joel said, unafraid of his nature.
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(later......)
The two cars were parked at the entrance of the highway. They didn't had to worry about blocking traffic because there was very little.
"Start your engines!" Airi instructed the two in the between. Joel's V35 Skyline revved loudly and everyone started cheering for him.
"Make them pay Joel!" JL yelled to give him support on the stands.
"I don't like the looks of this." Louis thought. "Even though I know Joel is more experience."
"The personality of that man disturbs me. And I'll be sure it'll mirror his driving."
The gang leader just grinned and revved his car. The sound of the thundering 4G63 Mitsubishi engine silenced everyone.
"Alright, I'm starting the countdown!" Airi announced.
"Five.........Four............three.........two..........one......go!!!"
The two cars accelerate forward and went on to the freeway. The Lan-Evo taking the lead and both cars disappeared into the distance.
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(Quick author's note)
This is the highway the two racers would be racing. As before the red line is the marked road. The track is so long that I had to divide it into two images. And also at the end of the highway is a roundabout where it's requires the two racers to go around it and return to the starting line.
First half:
Second half:
(Can you see the roundabout? Remember it as it's very important later)
(I apologize for the bad tracing.😅)
___________________________________
The highway was quiet and empty as it was only seven minutes past midnight. There was only a late night driver, cruising on the road when he saw headlights on his rear view mirror coming in fast.
"I wonder who's still driving this late at night?" He switched lanes to give way.
Soon the two cars zoomed past him at high speeds, leaving him shocked.
"Whoa!"
Joel was having trouble catching up with the man. His Skyline desperately tried to overtake. But no matter how hard Joel floored it, the Lan-Evo would widen the gap with more speed.
"Damn! He's way too fast!" Joel thought and switch to 6th gear. His Skyline managed to chew on the Lan-Evo's bumper, but it was about time when the Mitsubishi sped up again. "Goddamn it!! I have a 6 cylinders and yet I'm losing to a four banger!!"
"Hah, let's see how far you can keep up!" The man mocked him and floored it leaving Joel in the dust.
They were almost close to the end of the highway which required them to make a u-turn around the roundabout and return to the starting.
The Lan-Evo reaches it first and brakes. Gripping around the roundabout without style but hell of acceleration out of the corner.
Joel's Skyline past the Lan-Evo from the opposite side of the road. He did a braking drift around the roundabout with barely any understeer but he still struggles to keep up.
The race dragged on down the freeway but hope starts to arise. The Lan-Evo's front tyres began to slid as the racer put too much stress on the tyres.
"Damn, the tyres are sliding!" The man grunted as he slowed down.
Joel saw it and took this opportunity. He switches to 6th and floored it.
Finally, he was side by side with the Lan-Evo. Inches from closing in!!
But then there was a huge slower moving truck in the middle of the freeway that caught Joel by surprise that had turn right to avoid the crash.
He had slowed down during the process and the Lan-Evo took the lead again and went to the highway exit to passed the finish line.
Everyone was shocked to see that Joel had lost the battle while the racer's gang was cheering loudly for their leader's win.
Then Joel came back in second place......
______________________________________
Joel shut the door of his car furiously, salty of his lost. As when everyone calmed down, the notorious street leader walked up to him.
"Listen kid, lemme give you some advice. If you want to pretend to be street racer then at least you what you could do is start looking like one." The man pointed his finger at Joel.
"I mean looked at this pile of junk." The man looked at his Nissan. "Sure it's a V35 coupe but it's nothing special." The man rudely judges his car.
"You didn't even bother to put new tyres on this thing." The man said as he lightly kicked the right front tyres. Now Joel was beyond mad thinking, wasn't the man's tyres the problem that almost cause him the race and not his? Even his partner was struggling not to yelled out loud.
"And change the muffler on this thing cause I don't think even the ants will hear your revs" Joel's blood was now boiling. He was tempting to punch the man.
"I don't think you know a damn thing about your skyline, Dumb-ass." That sentence had crossed the line.
"Hey, you asswipe!!" Louis yelled that caught the racer's attention. He had enough. "No one trash talks to somebody else when he already is a big pile of stinking junk!"
"You wanna fight kiddo," He snapped. "Well, you make a good punching bag." He said approaching the hoodie.
Louis stand his ground with a straight face, ready to take his fighting skills he learned in video games to real life. The others were worried of Louis safety. But then the man chuckles again.
"Well, me and my boys must get going now, because there's no point in wasting more time for a bunch of fake racers. So why not we settled this on Saturday. I'm sure you won't have school then. Am I right little boy??" The man intimidatingly challenges him to a battle. Louis nods as he accepts. The man then proceeded to get in his Lan-Evo and drove off.
"SEE YA ON SATURDAY!!!! HA HA HA!" He yelled and disappears into the highway followed by his gang as their car's loud revving faded away.
Suddenly, Louis felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned and saw Joel.
"What's up?" He asked Joel who face-plamed in frustration.
"Did you just challenge him to a street race?"
"Yeah, why."
"Don't you remember that you partner is still damaged?!" Louis eyes widens, he has forgotten all about it.
"Oh no, I'm screwed!"
___________________________________
(The next day......)
After school, Louis went straight to Mr. Kenner's garage hoping to see if the new suspension was delivered early, but luck wasn't on his side.
"Sorry Louis, there's nothing I could do." Mr. Kenner apologized.
"Please Mr. Kenner, I really need the car by this Saturday." Louis wailed. He desperately need the car.
Then, there was a sound of two cars parking outside the garage. To Louis expectations, it was JL and Joel.
"Hey dude, is you car ready?" JL asked nervously even though he wasn't racing on Saturday. Louis miserably shook his head.
"No luck guys." He said gloomly. The rest sighed. Then, Louis regretted everything.
"I'm sorry guys," he began. "If I hadn't been so careless I wouldn't have challenged that jerk. Well maybe it wasn't that, maybe if I hadn't been so cocky in my last race, I wouldn't had damaged my car." He explained and tried very hard to hold back his tears.
"It's okay Louis, it's not your fault." Joel tried to consult him.
"We'll help you find that part, now matter what." Joel announced, faithfully.
"But can't you see the delivery comes only next week." Louis whimpers.
"Who cares! Then we'll buy another one." JL said to cheer Louis up.
"But it's too expensive."
"Then we'll just loan ya for now." Joel demanded and took out a five hundred ringgit bill (the 'Ringgit' is the name of the malaysian currency) from his wallet. JL also did the same and pulls out a five hundred bill too. Louis stared at his friends who he thought had gone insane.
"What, I can't do that." Louis denies the offer.
"It's okay Louis you can pay us back slowly." Joel said
"Beside that's what friends do right? We help each other." JL assured him.
Louis was moved by his friends action. He really felt that he discovered all the boxes of gold in the world. Friendship really is the greatest treasure. (If your bored of this moral of the story s*it just skip to the next paragraph)
"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it." He thanked the two.
"No prob." The two replied.
"That wouldn't be necessary!" Said a voice. The gang turned to the garage door and saw Airi with a group of ten racers.
"Airi, what are you doing here!" Joel asked.
"I thought I swing by to help you with your car, it seems damaged right." Then she signals a racer who hands her a briefcase. Then she passes it to Louis. "Hope what your looking for is inside."
Louis opened the case and finds a extra suspension warped perfectly. He was shocked by Airi's kindness.
"Whoa!! You don't have to give me this." Louis replied. Airi just smiled.
"Oh, I know you want it. Go give the money back to your friends and we'll help you put this baby in your machine okay?" She advised Louis.
"Thank you, but why are you helping me." Louis asked her. All of a sudden her expression changed.
"Cause I don't want another person lose to that jerkward!" She rolled her hands into a fist angrily and thought of the man who challenge Louis.
Then Louis looked at the racers behind Airi who was obviously the pit crew, his friends JL and Joel and then finally Mr. Kenner (Who you shouldn't forget just yet!).
He realized that everyone was helping him. His gloomy attitude turn into a face of hope. He couldn't let the Elemental Drifters down, or shall I say wouldn't.
"Alright everyone, let's get to work!"