Special appearence: Den1212
(Hakone, japan)
It was at the dead of the night. The only sound was frogs and crickets making their annoying mating calls deep into forest.
But soon something unnatural was heard. It wasn't the sound of thunder but man-made gasoline engines coming in hot. Echoes of hard rubber burning also accompanying them.
Two cars were battling as they parallel drifted out off a corner. The one leading was a gray Nissan Fairlady 350z followed by an Nissan Silvia S13.
"Damn, this guy's good!!!" The racer in the S13 said nervously as he shifted gears. He had sweat all over his forehead as he furiously steer his car. "I MUST KEEP UP!!!"
However, the racer in the 350z was smiling. He was only using one hand on the steering wheel as he effortlessly cornered past a small corner.
"You call this guy a professional? He's no faster than a tourist bus!" The racer laughed as he shifts gears and drifted into a corner. "I could even beat him with my eyes closed."
Then the 350z immediately took the lead from behind and entered a corner as the S13 tried to keep up.
But after he exited the corner, the Fairlady was gone. Completely disappearing in the series of wavy corners.
"I lost......" was all the S13 racer could say hopelessly.
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(Back at the summit.....)
The racers came back from the match on the summit. A large crowd of the members of the Elemental Drifters gathered around the two racers as they settle some differences.
"Hah, that's right you lost so pay up!" The Fairlady Z driver demanded as the S13 racer who lost paid 500 bucks to him and grunted.
Airi and Mr. Alex was among the crowd feeling disgusted. Betting was being carried out in their official race and it wasn't making them look professional as a private organization.
"This guy's betting on the race." Airi told herself.
"Hey, you can't bet money like that!" She yelled furiously at the 350z racer. "Our organization won't tolerate any disgusting acts of gambling!"
"Hey, I can bet all I want. As long as I win fairly." He replied boastfully. "And didn't this guy agreed to bet. Hah, he was so arrogant telling everyone that he could beat me." He exclaimed, making the S13 racer grunt.
"Your organization racers are weak! I, Taiki Yoshi, wanna race someone more challenging here!" He demanded pointing at the crowd.
"A challenger who I heard is getting more fame since last month." The Fairlady Z driver smiled smugly.
"I wanna race the Light Element!"
Then the audience began whispering as Airi grunted.
"He's asking for Louis..."
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Episode seven~ The Ultimate drift legend!
*Ring!!!!*
The school bells rang again as Louis and Joel were exiting their classroom, talking as they went.
"......yeah, so that's how I almost got busted by my parents last week." Louis said, remembering the time he went to L.A. to drag race.
"A new set of tyres from Japan is pretty dope though I must say." Joel replied. But there was an odd tone in his voice. It sounding like he was feeling done or something.
While walking to the school gate, Louis noticed Joel feeling uneasy.
"Hey, you good? You look pretty worried." He asked his friend as he adjusted the straps of his backpack behind.
"Louis I need to tell you something." He mumbled to avoid attracting unwanted attention. "I never intentionally wanted to come to this school."
Louis gave a shocked face. "Dude, what the heck are you talking about?"
Joel sighed and began his story. "Me and JL were together in the same school. But we were kicked out due to our poor attendance. The reason? Hah, racing of course. Skipping classes to race around the world. Well, we were young and foolish then. We couldn't resist."
"After we got kicked, Mr. Alex felt responsible so he looked for schools for us to join. Coincidently, he found out that the Light Element had chosen a student from this school. So he got us selected into the school and sent us to investigate the chosen one here."
"When we first meet, we never had the intention that you would be the Light. You couldn't even drift." Joel chucked as he remembers Louis rookie driving when racing him and JL.
(Flashback events of JL and Joel racing Louis)
*Tyres squealing*
Louis: "Drift!?"
(End of flashback...)
"Hey!" Louis wailed playfully as Joel laughs a little and stops.
"Guess we were wrong, cause you began winning race after race then you've beaten Airi the assistant of Mr Alex!" Joel said amazed. "To be honest Louis you're a pretty very fast learner." He complement Louis.
"Thanks man." The hoodie thanked.
"Louis!!"
The two friends turned around and saw Rachel yelling for Louis as she ran to keep up.
"Hey, Louis!" Rachel cheerfully greeted him. "Oh and you must be the new kid." She said turning to Joel.
"Damn this girl is hot! Louis sure know how to make friends." Joel said to himself, gulping.
"Yeah, you can call me Joel." He introduced himself. But then the two began catching glimpses of each other for another awkward 30 seconds.
Joel: "She looks famillar..."
Rachel: "Why do I feel like I met this guy before?"
"Ummm... guys!" Louis yelled to snap the two out from their imaginations.
"Oh, sorry I need to go!" Rachel said as she glance at her watch. "See ya!"
"We'll meet again!" Joel realised he blurted out that.
"Sure I will Joel, bye!" She waved and took off. Her blonde hair swang as she ran.
Joel: *blushing* "*whistles* Don't you think it's a little hot here?" *adjusts his collar*
Louis: *rolls his eyes*
Then suddenly JL came running to. them, he was huffing and puffing as if he ran half a marathon.
"JL, what's the hurry?" Louis curiously asked. Still huffing, JL spoke.
"A race had been announced in hakone Japan!" The blue hair screamed on top of his lungs. "Finally we're racing on a mountain pass again!! My specialty!!!" JL cheered and everyone else stared at him.
Joel: *hits JL on the head* "Not so loud you biltering idiot!!"
JL: *growls in pain*
Louis: *face palms*
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(That night..)
(Hakone, Nanamagari pass....)
The summit of the mountain was cramped with people as JL, Joel and Louis drove up to parked. They all had anxious looks on their faces when Louis and his friends came out of their cars. JL found Marcus and went to him.
"Hey, what's wrong? The crowd seems more anxious than usual." JL asked but his British friend answered calmly.
"You're just in time, take a good look over there." A gray Fairlady 350z appeared as soon Marcus finish his sentence. The racer diving it wore a black jacket covering his white shirt. He had black hair curly hair and sky blue eyes that looked onto the crowd for his next victim.
"Alright who will be my next opponent?" He asked enthusiastically with pride. Speaking in almost perfect English.
Seeing that there's no choice, Airi went to Akihiro. The white haired Dodge Viper driver was leaning on his partner when his sister approached him.
"You're up bro, you're are only chance at beating this jerk." Airi told him in Japanese.
"Don't worry little sis." Akihiro patted his sister's head. "I'll beat him." This was probably the first time the white hair ever showed any signs other than his usual edgy self.
"Hey you!" Akihiro yelled to get the racers attention. "What's your name?"
The racer smirked and introduced himself. "It's Taiki, Taiki Yoshi!" He said.
"Alright let's race then." Akihiro demanded.
"Sure sure I will, only if you show the greens my friend!" Taiki grinned and took out 12000 yen from his pocket. Akihiro did the same and they both went to their cars.
"Betting?!" JL widen his eyes. "This is risky, if he loses he'll...."
"He knows." Joel said in a calm tone. "He'll loose all his money."
"But we don't practice betting. So why are they doing that?"
"Cause this jerk ain't from our organization." Airi claimed, suddenly entering their conversation. "He just came here one night and started battling our top racers, he claims to be the fastest Touge gate racer around."
"Kinda reminds me of someone who also thinks he's the best at Touge battles." Joel chucked, thinking of a certain someone.
JL: "Hey!!"
"Anyway, ain't our organization a secret why we letting him race our racers?" Louis asked
Airi stay silent for a while. Then she answered.
"Cause he's chosen by a Wind element."
Louis, Joel, JL: "WHAT!!"
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"Alright start your engines!" Airi told the two racers who began revving their engines as she raised both of her hands and started the countdown.
"10.......9....
Louis: "Here we go!"
...8........7.....
Joel: "Do you think Akihiro can manage?"
..6.......5.....
JL: " let's hope so."
....4.....3....
Airi: "I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this." *says in thought as she raised her hands*
....2....1.... go!!!!"
The two cars accelerated leaving a cloud of dust behind. Taiki shifted perfectly and took the lead while Akihiro stayed behind.
"Look the Fairlady is leading!!" Louis pointed out upon seeing the race take on.
"Cause Akihiro let him to." Joel grinned that left Louis confused.
"The back racer had the advantage of technique and mentality." JL crossed his arms, explaining on the side. "You could clearly see the opponents techniques or strategy from the back. And if your experience enough, their car's transmission settings can be visible."
"After observing, you could find your opponent's weakness and use it against him, pulling a win."
"And Akihiro has been using this strategy to gain victory since day one." Joel added. "Guess I was wrong, there really is nothing to worry about. That Taiki guy is probably sweating all over trying to shake Akihiro's Dodge Viper."
"Yeah, gotta agree with that bro." JL said cheerfully.
"So what ya think Mercy?" Louis asked his Mercedes.
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge. To me this is anyone's game." The car expertly said
"We'll just have to wait and see."
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(15 minutes later into the battle)
(Going downhill.....)
The battle took on for a gruesome 15 minutes and there was still no change in position.
The 350z was still taking the lead as Akihiro tried to keep up. It attacked a tight corner flawlessly and recovered perfectly from the exit.
"Damn, I can't see this guys weakness! It's like he doesn't have any at all!" Akihiro grunted and began to worry. He had been tailgating the Fairlady's for some time but still he haven't got it's weakness. He was beginning to regret being the chaser.
"The 350z lightweight makes it easier to attack corners. Plus, he's elemental perk of having better air resistance to any car he drives is biting me on the ass now!" Akihiro gripped his steering wheel in anger. He was about to lose his 12000 yen. "The Dodge Viper is too heavy compared to a car like his. It's like I'm letting this guy escape by giving him the lead!"
"It's ok Akihiro, the final stretch of the race is almost here. We can still make it because of my high horsepower." Sparks, Akihiro's partner reminded him.
Akihiro tried his best to attack the corners but the Fairlady Z was too light and agile from him to keep up.
They both parallel drifted into a corner and drifted out. Then a tight hairpin was closing in. Akihiro pulled the E- brake and attacked the corner, he was successfully able to close the gap between him and the Fairlady on the inside line.
"What, this guy is able shorted the gap!?" Taiki yelled as he furiously stepped on the gas pedal to keep up. "Oh no, you ain't winning that money's mine!!!" He insisted.
The finish was straight ahead. Both drivers push their cars to the limits. Akihiro then took the open space at the left of the fairlady. Both cars were at the same speed, racing side by side as they activated their nitro. Akihiro's blue viper aura was emitted followed by Taiki's gray falcon aura.
Akihiro: "GO FOR IT SPARKS!!!!!"
Taiki: "THIS MATCH IS MINE!!!!"
Both cars crossed the finish together as the refree signaling a tie. The crowd watched wide mouthed as two cars flew pass. A staff then took out his walkie-talkie trembling.
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(Back at the summit...)
The audience were shocked about the news of the race. They whispered and gasped. Akihiro was known to be one of the best. But still he had a tie to this Fairlady racer.
"It's seems that we have underestimate this guy." Airi sighed at the fact that her brother lost. "He really is a professional..."
Then the two racers arrived back to the summit. Taiki came out of his 350z laughing with pride.
"That was a good match my friend, but it looks that I'm a little too good for you guys." He boasted, angering the crowd. "Here's your money back since it was a tie." He handed the money back to Akihiro.
"However, there's one thing I'm not satisfy about." He paused, changing to a serious attitude suddenly. "You're not the Light element, I could clearly see that by your aura!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Guess you finally noticed." Akihiro responded calmly, unfazed by the hotshot's persona.
"Don't try playing games on me!" He said rudely. "No wonder you weren't that challenging!"
"Hey, no one talks like that to my brother!" Airi yelled to defend Akihiro.
In the crowd, Louis blood was beginning to boil too. JL and Joel noticed it beside them. The hoodie clutched his fist.
"This jerk!!" He then stepped forward.
"Whoa wait Louis!" Joel tried to stop him, but it was too late.
"Uh-oh...." JL moaned.
"Hey you!" He yelled and caught Taiki's attention. "You wanna challenge the light, well you're looking right at him!"
Taiki looked at the teen almost as young as him madly.
"You the Light?!" The hotshot Japanese racer then began to laugh. "Hahaha! Good one! You're just a kid. I'll dominate you before you even reach the first corner!"
Then he got in his car and lowered the window. "I'll be back next Saturday, and by then make sure you guys bring the real light element to me!" He demanded and drove off down the mountain. Engines revving as he went.
"No hard feelings Louis he'll see what your made of." Joel tired to console him.
"Do you really wanna do this Louis?" Airi asked him. "You're just a beginner."
"Come on Airi, you can count on him. Remember he also beaten a pro once." JL suggested to Airi. "Beside the dude wants to race the Light and we can't denied that it isn't Louis."
"But you've to bet if you wanna race him." Airi reminded that made Louis gulp.
Louis: "Damn! I don't have that much money to bet even if I worked at Mr. Kenner's 24/7"
"Well bro what do you think?" Airi turned to her big brother beside for help.
"He can race the dude if he wants but it's not my problem if he loses." He said in his usual rude way without eye contact and walked off.
"It'll be funny if there was some drift legend that can teach me and improve my skills." Louis mumbled to himself chuckling. "Like those cheesy Kung Fu movies."
Apparently JL had heard his friend's mutters and had an idea. "Dude can I ask you something?"
"Sure what is it?" Louis was confused.
"You have free time right? Cause there will be no school for a week."
Louis remembered the school giving the students a week's term break so he nodded.
"Great, call your parents now. Say that you'll be hanging out at my place for a few days." JL instructed him.
"What! Why, where your taking me!" Louis began to freak out, he had no idea what his friend was doing.
"Dude, trust me, where gonna see an old friend for a few days."
Louis, however still didn't get it. "An old friend?"
"Well, I thought you wanted to improve your skills in Touge battles. But it seems your not interested...." He trailed.
"Okay, okay I will sheesh." Louis said annoyed, however he was really curious of seeing this 'old friend'.
______________________________________
Taiki Yoshi
Elemental Drifters
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"Okay, take care of yourself, bye!" Said Louis' mom on the phone. They had allowed Louis to hang out JL for a few days. The hoodie sense it was a bad idea however, he trust JL for it.
"Everything settled?" JL asked to make sure.
"Yeah we're good to go."
"Alright, there's a motel downhill from here. We'll spend the night there then will continue our journey tomorrow." JL instructed him.
"Ok then, let's go." So the hoodie waved goodbye to Joel and the rest before departuring in his Mercedes SLS downhill behind JL's R34 Skyline GT-R.
______________________________________
(The next afternoon....)
Saitama city hospital
Louis stood there staring at the sign.
Louis: "A hospital?!"
"What's wrong, don't like hospitals?" JL asked his friend. The hoodie turned with an angry expression thinking JL had gotten crazy.
"JL, why did you bring me to a hospital are you insane!" Louis scolded his friend. "How am I able to improve my racing skills in a freaking hospital?!"
"Dude calm down, you'll see." JL entered the hospital casually as Louis angrily followed.
"I'll see.... All I see is a goddamn hospital." The hoodie muttered in anger.
JL then proceeded to the customer service center straight away. There was a clerk typing away on her phone when JL caught her attention approaching her.
"Excuse me, is Dr. Friedland here?" He asked the clerk.
"A doctor?!" Louis was now bewildered.
"Oh, your lucky. He's taking a coffee break on the balcony." The clerk told him. "You could take the elevator there to the roof." She pointed at the elevator.
"Ok thanks." JL thanked the clerk and went, Louis following unenthusiastically behind.
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JL opened the door to the roof of the hospital. The wind blew his and Louis' hairs about as they stepped out of the doorway.
There was only one person smoking a cigarette there. He wore a white suit that meant he was a doctor. You can tell he was about 40 because of some strains of white hair mixing with his black ones.
However, he didn't look like a local but had American features and brown hair.
"Hey, Sensei, it's me JL." JL greeted the doctor.
Louis: "Sensei!?"
The doctor turned around and saw JL. "JL! It's good to see you again!" He said surprised as he went and shook JL's hand.
"How's it going?" The doctor kindly asked the blue hair.
"I'm great, thanks to you training, I improved a lot!" JL replied with a smile.
"Training?" Louis wondered what the two were talking about.
"Oh, and you must be JL's friend." The doctor assumed as he looked behind JL. "Nice to meet you, I'm doctor David Friedland." He said with a noticeable American accent shaking Louis' hand.
"Look, it's nice meeting you Mr. Friedland but I really don't need a doctor right now." Louis demanded. "I need to improve my racing skills, JL why did you sent me to see a doctor?!"
"Alright Louis why not we see him at action now?" JL told his friend. "Well your shift is almost over right Sensei? How bout an evening spin in Mount Kobushi tonight?"
The doctor took a glance at his watch, seeing that it was 15 minutes to five.
"Sure, I'll see you boys in the lobby in fifteen minutes." He told them and walked to the staircase back to the building.
"See this guy race?" Louis thought JL was joking. "How could a regular doctor race in a mountain pass?"
"Oh, give him a chance."
"You better not be wasting my time." Louis repiled calmly.
"Oh, you won't regret this."
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"A Lancer Evolution 5?!" Louis looked at the car, it had a black wing and a expensive bodykit. The colour of the car was chrome green that reflected Louis' image like a mirror. "This thing's ancient!"
"Manufactured by Mitsubishi back in 98. Built to compete against the Subi Impreza. And I had her tuned with 460 horsepower and an exclusive bodykit." Dr. David said while coming up to Louis.
"Come on guys, let's take a spin." He said pulling out the keys from his pocket.
______________________________________
"Whhhhoooooaaaaaa!!"
Louis cried as the Evo 5 drifted out of the corner. David was swinging his car left and right like a maniac. JL was calmly enjoying the ride as he knew he could trust his master.
"O-ok! Ok! I'm sorry! I take it back!! You can drift!" Louis yelled in the backseat.
Then a corner was closing in and David braked hard as the g-force rocked Louis front and then back as David drifted out of corner.
"Hey, JL do you think I should do it?" David winked at him. "So that Louis would be 100% sure?"
JL smiled and nodded. "It'll be fun."
"W-w-what you guys gonna do?" Louis nervously asked the two drift maniacs.
"You'll see." An S-hairpin was ahead as David went in at top speed with his Evo 5. Louis turned pale in fright.
The doctor then yanked the handbrake and turned the car 180° degrees facing backwards and switched to gear never used before in a Touge battle, the reverse gear. Louis eyes widened with fright.
"This guy is insane, get me outta here!" Louis yelled helplessly in his mind.
The car then began to drift backwards in the hairpin! David was counter steering inversely like he done many times before!!
JL grinned as he held his seatbelt furiously. "Yeah, the Reverse Inertial Drift!"
Then David swinged the car back to forward position, shifted into first and drove on. Louis was at the backseat half dead.
"This guy is amazing..." He thought before blacking out.
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A can drink dropped as JL picked it up from the vendor machine. He then passed it to Louis who thanked him for it and opened it to take a sip.
"I want to ask you something, what's an American like you working here in Japan?" Louis asked the doctor.
"Well, I wanted to start a new life here that's all." David told him to cut the story short. "Actually, the real reason I came here is to escape the life of racing and continue my medical studies. But guess I so 'unfortunately' landed right at the land of drifting."
"Back in my day, I was the leader of a street racing team called the 'The Blue Jets'. Came back drifting so hard till my back hurts from all the 'g's those years ago" He then chuckled afterwards. Remembering the action packed part of his life.
The doctor then turned Louis. "So wanna learn a thing or two?" He asked the hoodie.
"You know it!" Louis didn't took a second to grab the opportunity. He was proven enough.
"Alright let's see what you got." The doctor said enthusiastically.
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(200km away......)
(Nanamagari pass.....)
"Hah, another win!" Taiki yelled happily as he collected the bet from the losing racer.
"Please, how long can you keep the Light element from me?" He asked laughing. "I'm dominating your best racers!"
Airi looked as disappointed as ever. "Come on, Louis were counting on you......"
To be continued.....
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You could find out more about David Friedland and his racing career in these books made by Den1212 check them out!!!
Book one (completed): http://my.w.tt/UiNb/UwRIM05bwD
Book two (Competed): http://my.w.tt/UiNb/Yo5GkrgcwD