It was a sunny day in Motegi, Japan, about 83 degrees with clouds nowhere to be seen. I felt good that day and decided to take the old R34 out for a spin, just to see what kind of times I'd be bringing in. The R34 is a car I've owned for quite some time now. It's the GT-R V-Spec II version, so it packs a punch. But mine wasn't stock; I had done some MAJOR upgrades to it. It had about 580 horsepower at the wheels, with a full weight reduction to the point where almost everything was carbon fiber, as well as a set of Advan Neova sport compound tires. You know, so it can hug the road. I'm telling you, if the dictionary had "BecauseRacecar" as a word, a picture of this car would be under it. That's how many upgrades the car had. I would go on, but the R34 is NOT what this story is about.
I had just finished the first lap. I wasn't focused on the time right away because I was concentrating too hard on beating my previous time. One can get distracted if they think too much.
I zoomed by the pits and wasn't looking in front of me because of something that distracted me. All I could make out was the color; orange.
I was trying so hard to get a good look at it, that I forgot to look in front of me for the next corner. Before I knew it, I was on the brakes HARD. I even countersteered a little bit and ripped the e-brake to regain control of my car. Perfect example of why good tires are essential for BecauseRACECARs.
I turned the spinout into a U turn and made my way back to the pits to figure out what the heck that thing was. Luckily, the track was closed that day and since I knew the owner, I had full access to it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this story until about six or seven weeks from now.
I needed a set of new tires and a checkup on my suspension anyway, because I took that turn wrong, so I figured I would check the "thing" out at that time.
Stay tuned for the next update! Give me feedback on this too, it would be much appreciated. Thanks to Manila for his help.
Part 2:
*10 minutes later, present day Motegi circuit. Motegi, Japan*
I had just pulled in to have the mechanics take a look at my suspension and tires due to me making a rookie mistake of taking that turn too hard and not focusing myself to my priority; beating my time. I needed to pull in to the pits. Not only for the sake of the car, but to unlax as well. I can't believe something that I couldn't even see made me want to rethink about me continuing my career as a professional driver. I guess it was just that amazing, whatever the heck it was.
A few minutes later, I recollected myself and stepped out of the car so the techs could do what they had to do. They would give me the news later. I walked around to the passenger side and tried to spot the car without actually going over to the garage where it was parked by. I didn't know if the owner was there and didn't want people by the car, so I didn't take any chances. I did manage to come to ONE solution; it was brand spankin' new. In fact, it looked so new that I don't even think it was available to the public yet. You had to have some type of special access to the company who made it or something.
I still couldn't make out the car. I don't know why, either. Maybe it was because I was still in shock of what happened earlier. Or maybe it was because I remember 3 different companies coming out with the same car. Or maybe it was just because I was too darn far away to actually tell which one it could possibly be.
I saw a few photographers over by the car and decided to make my way over there to see if the owner was around or if there was someone I could talk to, as a way of getting a closer look at the car.
I went as far into the garage as I could without going into the garage(trespassing reasons, I don't want them to sue me), but he wasn't there. The only people I saw were the two photographers. I didn't want to bother them, but I had no choice. I got to talking with one of them.
"Hey man, have you seen the owner around?" The photographer replied, "No, I believe he said he went to McDonald's for lunch with his friends, but I can't remember for sure. I've been busy doing a shoot with this baby all morning."
"Alright thanks."
I started walking back to my garage, but really slowly. I threw my keys on the ground towards the driver's side door of it as a way of pretending I was looking for something, just so I could take a peek of the interior.
I was in awe. As I looked closer through the dark tint, my predictions were right. I had forgotten that Subaru's version wouldn't be out until later and Toyota's version was available in select areas of Japan. This version was available in select areas as well, but I just so happened to be in one of those areas.
It was the Scion FR-S. I was in such a hurry that I was only able to take a cell phone-quality picture of it, though. We all know what those look like when you have a 5 year old flip phone with a cracked screen.
I picked up my keys and sprinted back to my Skyline, where the techs had finished up on the suspension check and tire changes. They said that the only thing they found wrong was the front strut being bent on the passenger side, and they went ahead and replaced it for me with a better, stronger one. I had to dish out almost 7,900 yen. Now, back to the car. I didn't want the photographer to think I was some kind of criminal, what with my eyes gazing and me drooling at the car like that. I was gonna wait for the owner to come back from Mickey D's so I could get to know him before I made any moves.
I went back out to the track to try and kill some time. I went around one time and looked at the stopwatch. I brought in a 2:10.xxx. I went around a 2nd time and a 2:06.777 came up. On that lap, I dropped a few tires which happened to slow me down a bunch, plus I got a little tail happy on some of the sweepers and made the rear end kick out a few times. The inner drifter seemed to want to emerge from within me. Eager to attempt to beat my time once more, I went around for a 3rd lap. This time, I didn't drift or drop tires. It looked like I was gonna set a perfect lap for what this car can do. New tires, suspension retune, and all that good stuff; I thought, why not? I went from a 2:06.777 down to a 2:05.447, and still with minor weeble-wobbles. I guess that's as much as I could do for now. I went back to the pits to cool off and get something to eat while I wait for the boss to arrive.
Chapter 3: The DealIt was getting dark out, and it was getting there quickly. Still, the owner hadn't come back yet. The photographers had left and the only people left at the track were the mechanics that had worked on my car and me. As soon as I started to get in my gather up my things and leave, I heard the loud rumble of a twin turbocharged V6... I was kind of frightened to look behind me. I did anyway. Finally, it was the owner of the FR-S. He was in his Jotech tuned stage 4 Nissan GT-R.
He turned the car off and continued to sit. I guess he was trying to burp because he was feeling a little bloated. A couple of Big Macs will do that to you. A few minutes after he turned it off, he stepped out. He immediately made his way towards the trash can so he could throw away his McDonald's bags while sipping out of his drink. I started meandering over to him since I didn't feel like getting back in my Skyline. Plus, it wasn't really that far of a walk. He saw me going towards him when I got about halfway there and looked. He was pretty skeptical. He didn't know if I had a question I wanted to ask or if I had some type of weapon or something. It's a safe assumption. I would do the same thing. He went to get back in his car, but I waved my hands back and forth, yelling to him that I need to discuss something with him. He stopped and waited.
I got there and we shook hands first. We eventually got to talking about cars, cars, and more cars. He was a Nissan man, hence the fact that he owns that GT-R you saw earlier. He had other cars he liked, but I guess the GT-R was his favorite, as is my Skyline to me. After some conversations, I asked him about the FR-S and what his plans were to do with it.
"I was just thinking about making it a drift car, really. That's the only plan for now. At first, I thought about making it a time attack car because I've heard that they are lightning fast when tuned for circuit racing. In fact, now that we're talking about it I know of a shop not too far from here by the name of Leadfoot Tuned. They are the only other shop I know about that owns an FR-S. Their's held the record at the touge event in the Fujimi Mountains a week ago, until a Lotus Elise 111S came and beat it by just a few car lengths. But I ended up changing ideas to building a drift car out of it because I'm a drifter at heart and that's what I did in my younger days.", said the owner.
I nodded my head in agreement. Next I started talking to him about the possibility of it being for sale. The car looked too immaculate to pass up. It was staring me in the face, saying stuff like "buy me, buy me". It never hurts to ask, right? I HAD to ask or else I wasn't gonna be able to sleep that night.
I asked him the question. He started laughing. He kept laughing for about 5 minutes straight. When he asked if I was serious about it. From what I gathered, it seemed like he was too attached to it. Then his attitude changed in the blink of an eye. He asked how much I would offer for it.
"I'd offer you...", as I walked around the car, "1,259,280 yen."
He replied. "I paid more than that just for the car, plus I bought a stage 3 carbon fiber air filter. It's got a bit more oomph, if you know what I mean."
That DID make sense, but so did getting it for a bit cheaper than the sticker price in case I decided to sell it; that way I could make some money and put it towards another car.
I went up a little bit and offered 1,495,395 yen. That was the equivalent of about $19,000 and I was gonna import it to the States, but I had some yen laying around. He didn't mind it being yen or American dollars, but I wanted to save him the trouble.
"Tell you what.", he said. "If you'll come up to 2,125,035 yen, it's a deal. Like you, I need to make some money on this. I'll try to get another one anyway. If I run out of luck doing so, I'll spend the money on a Silvia haha."
I felt that that was too much, but I had to take into consideration the fact that this car wasn't available to the public just yet, and he had also done some work to it right off the bat.
"I'll come up to 1,888,900 yen, and that's pushing it. I mean, I understand it's a newer car and you've done work to it and you've gotta make money, but that puts me in a bad situation in case I need a plan B, you know? That'll be it sir. Is it a deal?"
He pondered for a bit.
"I'll let it go, but on one condition."
"What's that?" I said.
"You gotta turn it into the best damn drift car that Japan has ever seen! Oh, and I lied. There's another condition. Take good care of her."
I kept my cool on the outside, but I was screaming full of joy on the inside. I'm glad he didn't notice.
"Alright, that's a yes to both. I'll do my best to turn it into the best drift car Japan has ever seen. No promises though."
He gave me the keys and title and the first thing I did was turn it on. The engine purred at idle and I had a grin on my face from ear to ear. I was overjoyed. I was ecstatic. I was zoned out and forgot that the mechanics were still over at the garage, finalizing the Skyline.
"Dang it. Sir, I have a question for you."
"I have an answer. I think."
"Is it okay if the car stays here overnight, and I'll come pick it up tomorrow? I came here in my car and it looks like the mechanics are leaving, so I have no one to drive it up to my place."
"Sure! I'll lock it up in the garage, that way it's safe. You have to pay me now though."
I gave him the money in some envelopes and thanked him. I then made my way back to my Skyline. The mechanics cleaned up and put everything back in its place. All I had to do was turn off the light and close the garage door and lock it up. I got in my Skyline and drove off for the night. Today was a pretty tiring day. I need a 5-Hour Energy.
Chapter 4: The Element of SurprisePart 5: The Trip To Nagoya*10 hours later, after leaving Motegi circuit from Tochigi, Japan. On the way to Suzuka circuit with the damaged FR-S.*
We were on our way to Nagoya, Japan for the SKYLINE CLUB race that was happening that day. I wanted to go there for that reason specifically, but I also thought that maybe, JUST MAYBE, there might be another FR-S up there in one of the garages. Maybe I could get help for my car. I hoped someone could help. I wanted to find some spare body parts until I had enough cash to get it resprayed. My energy was draining because of the long drive. Jim was behind me in the FR-S. I decided to give him a ring to kill some time on the drive.
"Hey Jim, how are you holding up? You still think you can make it to Suzuka?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal. I've gone on drives longer than this. This is a cakewalk."
"You're funny. Well, alright. Are you still in disbelief about what happened man? It got me pretty bad, but that's me."
"I mean, yeah. Who would do that kind of stuff? You have to be a psychopathic maniac who had a SERIOUS grudge against you. Even then, to do this much damage to a car that's not even out yet, that's some mean stuff man." He said.
"I hear you loud and clear bro. I think if we get to Suzuka soon enough, maybe we'll catch him there. After all, he does own an R35, even though it's not legitimately a Skyline, they'll let him compete. They want to see what that GT-R of his can do, being stock except fully adjustable suspension and all. I'll scout the pits a bit and see if I can't find someone to get me some new body panels and stuff. The car will look ugly for a few weeks, but at least it won't look trashed."
We arrived to the city of Nagoya. It was beautiful. The buildings, the cars, the sky, everything. This is one of those places I would take a vacation right at this very moment if I didn't have to deal with corrupt people. We took the exit to Suzuka Circuit and drove a little longer. Not long after, we entered. No one was there, as I had expected. We were a little early. I looked at my watch; it read 1:08 PM. The race was starting at 2:00 PM. I called Jim again and asked him to pull into the pits, while I go do a few test runs on Suzuka this time around.
This is the time I used wisely. I used it to think through anything that could've urged the guys in the Toyota shirts to do what they did. I basically lost all of my focus after about 2 laps. I couldn't think straight. It felt like my brain was skewed inside my head. I had constant migraines from when we left up until now. A couple seconds later, I got a phone call. It was Jimmy.
"Hey, quick! Get to the pits man! I found a garage full of stuff from Scion! A white bumper and hood, red front fenders for both sides, orange sideskirts, black quarter panels and rear bumper, and a set of blue doors. Maybe we could strike a deal if we just explain what happened!"
"I'm on my way." I threw it into overdrive. At the blink of an eye, I was there. Jim was right. They had all this stuff on standby. I don't know what the heck they were doing here since it was a Skyline Club race, but I didn't care. It was like they KNEW something was up, and were sent from Scion to give me these parts. That didn't mean that they were actually gonna do it though. About 20 minutes prior to the start of the race, a group of guys started walking up to the garage that Jim and I were stalking. I forgot we were trespassing because I was still staring at the stuff.
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing over there! Get away from our stuff dude!" One of them screamed.
"I'm sorry! I didn't take anything! I was just looking for the guys that own this garage! Are you them?"
"Yeah, what's it to you?"
I waited for them to come up so I didn't have to yell the entire time.
"Here's the deal. Last night, we purchased a Scion FR-S from a gentleman by the name of Naoki. Or at least, that's the name he gave us. I'm not so sure I believe him after what he did to it. Well, either him or his friends over at Toyota. Anyway, I bought the car from him when we met last night at Twin Ring Motegi. I was there by myself and I had driven up there in my R34, so I didn't have anyone to come up and drive the FR-S back to my place. I asked him to do me a solid and keep the car in his garage overnight so I could get my friend Jim here to come with me and drive it back. He did that, but on one condition. I had to pay him up front in full for the car. I thought there was something fishy about that, but I did it anyway. We parted ways after that. The next day, I came back up, only to find the garage door already opened and the lock and chain sitting on the ground, broken into pieces. The car was sitting OUTSIDE the garage in the condition as you see right there."
"Wow, that must've been one heck of a hard time for you, knowing you basically got screwed over like that." He muttered. One of the guys in the group started laughing, but I didn't mind. I wasn't here to pick fights.
I said to him, "Is there any way I could buy that kit from you? I'm willing to pay over the price for it. I'm desperate man, you gotta see it from my perspective."
"Well, seeing as how OUR FR-S won't be here for another 2 weeks, I don't see why not. They're selling the stock OEM kit separate over in Nagasaki, but I highly doubt you're going to want to drive that far." He murmured.
"You know me so well, yet we just met. How much are you wanting for the entire kit?"
"The price was initially 315,000 yen, but seeing the situation you're in, I'll cut it in half. How's that sound?"
"Deal. Thanks so much man, you've helped me out a lot. Can I pay you another 40,000 to put it on the car for me?"
"I'll be glad to help you out, but not for 40,000. That would be me robbing you. I'll do it for 10,000."
"Much appreciated man!"
The watch reat 1:54 PM at this point. The race was 6 minutes away. I head the RB's and V6's roaring from the distance. They were getting lined up. I told the guys that I was gonna go find a good spot at the bleachers, gave them my phone number to notify me when they were done, and left. Jim followed behind.
Of all the GT-R's out there, one stood out to me. It was Naoki. I knew he'd be in the race, but anyone can be wrong. Apparently he had qualified terribly and ended up starting in 6th.
They had done a pace lap and the race was off. I looked at Naoki, took a sip of my drink, looked back, and he was already fighting for second place.
Before I knew it, he was gone. After the first corner, he pulled about 10 car lengths ahead of the Mine's R34. He didn't care about messing up his car either. His entire left side was already filled with scratches. You can be aggressive, but dang bro, COOL IT!
By the end of the first lap, coming into the last corner, he attempted to put on a show for the spectators by powersliding through the last corner. Little did he know about the drivetrain and weight of that thing. He was making those poor tires pay. Pretty soon he would have problems entering corners at high speeds because of all the understeer and loss of grip on the rubber.
His first lap's time was a 59.993, just under a second. It was only the west division of the circuit. The East was closed for construction, they told us. He was ahead of the 2nd place by 15 seconds overall, and it was only the second lap. Later on he would improve it just short of 4 seconds, bringing his time down to a 56.044. Eventually he won the race. He pretty much destroyed everyone out there.
Anyway, the race was finished and I got a call from the guys at the Scion garage. They had finished putting together my car. It looked good. Well, it looked better. In a way. Kinda, sorta.
I decided to take her out for a few spins.
I kicked the clutch and threw it in hard into the first corner of the D1GP section. The car felt very underpowered, and that's because it was. Even with the air filter, it was still weak.
I made it through the first corner and tried to manji to the second, but the car's tires just bit. I got it back in control and had another go at it. I clutch kicked once more and hammered down. I went too fast into the corner and skidded off into the grass, just like I did with my Skyline at Motegi. God, why am I such a bad driver?
I lost control of it again and spun around.
I made the lap around and went back to Scion's garage. I thanked them for all their hard work and paid them for their service.
Now, I just had to be patient and save up as much money as possible to get a respray, aftermarket kit, and give the engine a bit more energy. Off to the races I go! With Jim behind me in the Skyline, of course.
Stay tuned for Chapter 6!
Chapter 6: How's an Appointment With a Psychiatrist Sound?*10 minutes after the SKYLINE club race, Suzuka West Circuit*
Whoever bet money on Naoki for the race, they got it back; and then some. He made those other guys look like complete fools out there. I'm sure those guys got their racing licenses revoked after the embarrassment they just went through. Naoki drove back into the pitstop to get new tires, suspension check up, and aerodynamic inspection. He was pretty rough out there with his opponents, as you saw earlier. I had gone up there as well, after the race ended, to congratulate him.
"Good race Naoki! You killed out there!" I said.
"Thanks kid, now get outta my way."
"Kid?" I thought. Is that what I was to him? I didn't bother; I know how short tempered he is.
The crew chief came over to discuss some things with him. I wasn't too far away and I had ears like a bat. Even though my mom always taught me not to eavesdrop, I did this one particular time. I was curious George out there that night.
"Congrats Naoki, can't say you would've lost. I would've been wrong."
"Thanks Kaz, means a lot coming from you."
But when I say it, I'm a kid. I shook my head and turned my ears back on.
"Even though you won the race tonight, some of the guys and I don't think you deserve the sponsorship anymore. You were awarded it because of your skill in racing, but they told me that they gave it away too quickly. They had not known that you have a lack of sportsmanship. While racing is sometimes "rub-a-dub-dub, let's trade some paint bud", there are boundaries. They have decided to change who they want to sponsor. You are no longer with the Nismo racing team. I'm sorry."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??!?!? WHAT DID I DO WRONG? I JUST HIT A FEW DUDES ONE TOO MANY TIMES, AND NOW THEY DECIDE TO TAKE AWAY MY ONLY CHANCE AT PROFESSIONAL RACING?!?!?!?"
"Did you see yourself out there? You ran people off the track man. You weren't fair at all, you messed up a bunch of really nice cars, you break checked that Mine's R34 out there... Heck, YOU even drove off the track and started powersliding all over the place. While Nismo want a good driver, they also want someone who isn't afraid to say "Good race" and shake hands."
"I can do that! I can do that! See? I'll go to every racer and do that now!"
He ran up to every a participant and yelled, "good race!" and shook hands.
"It's not gonna help now.", said Kaz.
After the second racer, Naoki stopped in his tracks, looked back at Kaz, and just stared.
"I can't believe it... I was almost there. I got so hung up in winning, I forgot so many BASIC principles as a racer."
He got back in the GT-R and left the tracks. I sipped my drink and walked away, pretending I heard nothing. He peeled out and his tires cried on the way out. I quickly told Jim to stay by the FR-S and got in my car to follow him. He was about 500 feet ahead already, so I had to play catch up. He was headed towards the Fujimi Kaido mountains.
Naoki was moving at lightspeed towards the mountains. You could hear the loud uproar of that built twin turbo'd V6 he had under the hood of that GT-R from miles away. I wasn't too far away; he had left before me. I was able to decrease the margin of distance just a tad. Eventually I caught up to him, only to see him slow to a stop and make a sharp U turn in the middle of rush hour traffic. I didn't want to spook him, so I acted like a civilian and drove around him. He was creating such chaos out of nothing. I had to do something. As soon as the gap between him and I increased, I turned around and headed back to the tracks. Apparently, there was another SKYLINE club race about ten minutes after the one that just finished. I had not known about it.
By the time I got there, the race started. Naoki went insane. He went ONTO the track and intentionally wrecked every car out there as a way of sending a message to Nismo. If he couldn't get the sponsorship, no one could.
He started by ramming his car against the pit wall.
He threw in a little powersliding again.
His first target was a Mine's R34. He performed a P.I.T. maneuver and put it in the wall.
Luckily, he wasn't on the track in the way of the other racers. Or maybe I had spoken too soon. He dashed back onto the course and passed the R32 and R33 Skyline's after they overtook him when he was playing footsy with the R34 in the grass. He got right in front and break checked them, the R33 almost dodging him. The R32 wasn't so quick; it slammed into the R33, which slammed into Naoki and the insanity that was going through his brain.
The R32 wasn't having it, so after almost wrecking, he kept racing. Naoki got fed up and tried run him off the road.
After he succeeded doing that, he went to mess with a few more of the racers. There was another R35 out there, practicing to get as fast as he could. He was a contender for the Nismo sponsorship, too! I just hope because he owned the same car as Naoki, he wouldn't go berserk. Naoki's goal was to prevent that from occurring. No matter what it took, he had his eyes set.
He went to the pits to get his belongings and set a waypoint to Fujimi Kaido once again. I was just outside the track entrance, so I would see him exit. At that time, I would follow.
*Half an hour later, present day Fujimi Kaido, approximately 40% through the mountain, heading fast down the S curves*
I had chosen to get a bit closer to him after staying far away for so long. I was close enough to keep an eye on him, but not too much. I didn't want him to catch me in his rearview mirror; not that he looks at it or anything, seeing as how he completely wreaked havoc at Suzuka earlier.
Jim was still up at Suzuka, helping clean up some of the mess Naoki left. He finished helping out a little bit and then called me. I guess I talked to him so much during the trail, I didn't realize Naoki had knocked his wing off. Just when I wished for him to continue to NOT use his mirrors, I assumed he took a glance and saw someone following him. He knew who it was too. He put the pedal to the metal. I followed suit.
He didn't let up, but neither did I. We both ended up throwing our tails out on one of the left hand sweepers.
He used his mirrors at the wrong time and then forgot to pay attention to the road in front. He was so hung up on losing me on the mountain that he didn't hit the brakes as quick as he wanted to; the rear end hit the guard rail and almost 360'd around.
He continued sliding all over the place, with me right on his tracks. There was no way he was getting rid of me that quickly. I was like a SAM missile. I wanted some answers to the questions that were lingering around in my mind.
We got to the bottom of the hill at the bridge, right by a few stores and houses. He tried his hand again at break checking. He felt cocky because he had done it three or four times at the two races in which he partook. It may have worked on them, but I had quicker reflexes than Jackie Chan. And I was in my R34. I'm not going to let someone like this bastard damage my baby. I swerved out of the way and got in front of him.
My passenger side fender kissed the guard rail and I had a few scratches. I was irate.
We spun tires on the last few corners of the mountains before we got to civilization. He fishtailed from wall to wall, hitting the rails with intense energy.
Next up, a friendly conversation with my cousin BAT and my uncle CROWBAR.
Chapter 7: I Had to Do It.I got out of the car and bolted towards him. Usain couldn't catch up to me. That's how pissed I was. I punched the window a few times to see if he would cooperate before I turned into the Hulk. Of course he wouldn't. I can't say I didn't give him a chance. I broke the window, gouged his eyes out so he would be temporarily dazed for a second while I drug him out of the car and yelled question after question at him.
"WHY THE HELL WAS MY CAR LIKE THAT BACK AT MOTEGI? WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT? WHO WAS IT? Tell me or I'll beat you senseless!"
"Uhh... It wasn't... ahh... me... I didn't... do it..."
"Don't give me that crap! How stupid do you think I am? You were the one who locked the garage with the car in it! I watched you do it! Then I paid you UP FRONT, thinking you were a good samaritan. I come to the garage to see my brand new car, pretty much IN PIECES! Now tell me, what... did... you... do? You have one chance." I told him.
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me! Why would I mess up a deal like that? I'm not that type of person. I don't screw people over. Please believe me."
"I'm not so sure that I can right now, Naoki."
I was getting ready to introduce him to my bat. I didn't have patience at this point. I asked a simple question. All I wanted was a simple answer. Then I could meet Jim at the gas station and see my newly kitted FR-S, as he told me they had done on the phone earlier.
"OKAY OKAY! I'll talk! I'll talk."
"Spill. NOW." I said.
"You wanna know why I would do this, don't you?"
"No, I came up here to ask you how your mother was doing. YES I WANT TO KNOW THAT!"
"Well, here's the dealio. That night when we were back at Motegi and you wanted to buy the car from me, I had a wire on me. There were other people listening in on the negotiation. I had met with them after lunch that day, before I came up to the track to check up on it. What we talked about was classified, so you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Got it?"
"Yeah, just keep on talking."
"Okay, so I'm in loads of trouble with these people. They were pissed that one of my guys on the team had beat on of their guys in a touge battle a few months back. We used the Hachi Roku and they used a Civic Type-R. I wasn't there for the whole shebang, but apparently the Civic led the entire race and then SOMEHOW, we were able to pull out the win. I predict that the driver in the Civic got so hung up on winning that he lost focus a few corners before the finish line, while our guy was able to keep his head on straight. He passed him on the S curves coming down the mountain. The head honcho of the team had found out and got his guys to find me and have a little convo. They were going to give me a spankin' unless I wore that wire. While we were talking, they were telling me exactly what to say. After you had left, they asked me to leave the key inside the lockbox by the garage. They had a key to the lockbox. I had to do it man. I didn't do it to screw up the deal. I did it so I could live. They were gonna kill me if I didn't do this. I'm sorry." He lectured.
"I'm sorry too... Sorry that you won't be able to see your grand kids."
I hit him with the bat across the face and left. He covered his face and hollered because the pain got to him. I got in my car and drove away. Now I have TWO cars that need TLC. This was a terrible week so far, huh?
A few minutes later, I heard sirens coming down the mountain. Fast. I kept calm and I kept in my lane. I was hoping they were going for someone else, so they would pass me and everything would be cool. Incorrect!
As the sirens inched closer, I looked in my rearview. It was a Suzuki Liana. I immediately thought, "wait a minute, a Liana? What's that thing got, like 12 horses? My lawnmower moves faster." I floored it. I lost him for a few seconds...
He got behind me like we were at the Daytona 500, on the last corner on the last lap.
I threw her sideways coming into the tight U turns. This is where I excelled. I took a glance to see how close the Liana was, and I saw the shadow of another car. I guess he called in backup.
I linked the next corner.
They pulled out the big guns. The officer in the Liana had SOME knowledge about Sukairain's and the damage they could do, I assume. There was no way he would catch me. I had to fight now.
I accidently took the next turn too wide and they both overtook me. I thought it was over.
I was able to regain my position in front of the little Suzuki, but the GT-R wasn't giving up. He gunned it as soon as I did and would not let me get in front. They were gonna box me in and there was nothing I could do about it.
I took the turn wide again, this time on purpose. He had the advantage on the inside apex, so I switched my game up a bit. He switched lanes and tried to break check me. I missed him by just inches. Does this guy know how much my suspension setup costs?
I kicked the clutch, let go of the brake, turned the wheel the opposite way, and hammered down. In the time I spent doing that, the Liana blocked me from going anywhere else, so I had to stop the drift and regain control of the car. I also did not want to hit him because this car was my baby. I cannot count how many man hours I spent on other peoples' cars to get the money required to get this one built to my liking. Now it was all ruined. I spun out right beside the Liana and it missed me by millimeters. I'm surprised he didn't make my bumper worse than it already was.
It was done. They caught me.
Or so they think...
Chapter 8: I'm Coming Home!I put my hands up in the air and waved them like I just didn't care. I'm not from Delaware though, so I had to stop doing it right then because the cops were getting out of their cars. My car was still on, the RB26 purring. I glanced over at the police officers and thought of something. "They're far away from their cars, there's no way they'd get back in them in time to catch me. I mean, I have around 600 horses in this thing." I peeled out. I heard them yelling to get back up on their receivers. "Code 595! Code 595! We have a runaway! Need backup!" I don't know why he was talking English when he was obviously Japanese, but I assume he knew a little bit of both. They both ran back to their cars as the distance between them and I increased, me leaving them in the dust.
God, that felt good. Maybe the GT-R would catch up a little bit, but there was no way the softie of a police car that was the Liana would. I slowed down just a tad for the upcoming turn, and yanked the e-brake.
Then I heard a few roars of engines. I thought maybe there was a meet somewhere on the mountains or there was a touge battle going down, but it was the GT-R. Like my predictions stated, he had caught back up. The Suzuki was nowhere to be found.
I stared in my mirror for 2 seconds too many and entered into the next corner too early.
I hit the front bumper once again and spun around. I wasn't going to surrender this time. I had to get away at all costs. I had a resprayed and newly kitted FR-S waiting on me.
When I was done, the Liana joined the chase for another try. I pulled the steering wheel left, then right to regain control of it, then I threw it in second and the tires begged for some rest.
Instead of drifting the next corner, I took it properly and threw the cops off guard. They assumed I was going to drift it because that's what I've been doing for the last 4 years of my life. The Liana understeered and rode the wall with its side completely against it on the way down. I was able to get a bit more speed and increase the getaway chances.
There was a semi long straight right before a few corners. My tires were losing their tread so the car was starting to slide by its lonesome, whether or not I wanted it to. They got up on my rear bumper. I thought again: "People have breakchecked me before, so let's see what happens if I do it to these popo members. " I slammed on the breaks after going about 110 into the next sweeper and the GT-R was able to respond quick enough. Although his friend in the Liana wasn't. He didn't expect us to slow down, so he put his foot to the floor. His rear end went into the air and he messed up the entire rear end of the GT-R. They both spun around almost as if a ghost had come up from behind and done a P.I.T. manuever on them. I can imagine what that's going to cost the city. My first attempt at a break check had succeeded.
I was home free from now until the bottom of the mountain. A few seconds later, my phone rang again. It was Jimmy. I answered it.
"Hey Jimmy! How you doin'?"
"Good, but just where the heck are you? I've been here at Suzuka for the last 2 hours, and I wanna go home. Can I just drive the FR-S down to your place?"
"Yeah, go for it. Did I forget to tell you? I had a talk with Naoki about what happened with the FR-S situation, and he said he was obligated to do it or he would die. He said a bunch of dudes from a team cornered him into accepting the idea of selling someone the car and then messing it up the day before they would pick it up from the garage. Apparently Naoki's team had beaten them in a race to the bottom, so they had to retaliate. I called a bunch of bullschmit on that. He had me going for a second, though; I'll give him that. Also after all that had gone down, cops got on my tail. I had a tough time losing 'em and they almost got me. I was able to break check the GT-R and get the Liana to crash into him. They are both still on the mountain with downed vehicles. By the time backup gets there to assist them, I'll be long gone. Just start driving down to the ferry, would ya? The next city I'm paying a visit to is Silverstone for a few days."
"Damn, all that in 2 hours? I feel sorry for you bro. Alright, I'll meet you at the ferry. Hurry up though, because we might miss it."
"Don't you worry about that, you just get there in one piece."
Chapter 9: The Need for Speed
We arrived at Silverstone and were making our way to the circuit. Jim was in front of me in the FR-S and we were cruising. I grabbed my phone and called to strike up a conversation because I didn't want to fall asleep behind the wheel. We talked about all the stuff that's happened so far and how the hell I was able to get out of it. We talked about my future plans with my R34 and the FR-S too. I told him I was going to get a new motor put in from a good friend of mine and he was going to respray it too. I had a grin on my face the entire way to the track.
"Wow! That's great! You are sponsored by Yokohama now, so I guess you could implement that into your new design somehow." He said.
"Yeah, I was hoping to have some kind of stripe coming down the car and then have the Yokohama logo at the back." I agreed and said that this would be a good idea. We turned into the entrance of the circuit and showed our passes. As we drove by, I saw cars that could only be seen in a dream. Spirit R's, Mine's Skyline's, Amuse Supra's, Top Secret Skyline's, Mugen and Type R Civic's, and more. I almost hit a pedestrian who was crossing the road because I couldn't get my eyes to detach. People had come from all over to hang out. We were allowed to take a few laps around the track since no one was on it. Jim asked to wait by everyone else. I said it was fine. I took this time to ponder a little bit. I had to find a new bodykit to put on my Skyline because this one was done. Naoki should be paying for it but I didn't care if he didn't. It's not like I didn't have enough money.
There were a few photographers out there that day.
All of a sudden I heard a car coming around the corner. I didn't know they were starting to let people back on, so I scrambled out of the way. I looked up to my rearview mirror and it was Jim! And he was DRIFTING my FR-S.
I didn't know whether to cry my eyes out or yell, "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BUDDY!"
I didn't do either of those, but instead used that time to kick it sideways myself. Once I did that, I made him disappear in my smoke.
A few minutes later, a photographer caught him in action without smoke clouding his view.
We then went to the finish line and parked on the starting points and grass to get a few pictures of the cars being together for the last time, since I was going to get the R34 fixed and whatnot, as well as the FR-S.
"Whoooo! That was fun! I should consider taking that up as a career. I didn't know I was that good. I guess that 30 second lesson on drifting paid off."
"Dude, you scared the piss outta me. Don't do that. You know that's a brand new car man."
"Sorry bro, I was tempted."
"Although, that was pretty damn cool. I didn't know you could do that!"
"Yeah, it's a little secret I've kept for a bit. I'm glad you liked." He said, with a smile on his face.
"What do you say we go get something to eat? Maybe we can figure out when the guy is gonna be done with my new motor."
"Sounds like a plan, batman."
We left.
Subject: The Successor: A BNB Short Story- Part 10 Finally. 
Tue Aug 21, 2012 4:19 am
