Combustion

Speed Demon Pt III

I stood to my feet as I heard more gunshots in the hall. Flame! I rushed into the hallway to see flame clinching her tricep area.

"The garage!" She yelled as she fell against the door. The garage was rising as Blaze started his car preparing to escape.

"What about you!?" I asked as I struggled to decide which situation to handle first.

"Go!" she demanded as she coughed up spit. There was commotion from the Corvette as it sped out of the garage and onto the dirt road.

"Fuck!" I screamed as I launched towards the garage. I yanked the black car cover to the ground and jumped into the drivers seat. It had been two weeks too long since I was last behind the wheel of my BMW. There were a few body modifications that allowed me to gain acceleration speed and increase my top speed by 8 whole mph. 2 weeks earlier, ironically with the help of Ben, I lowered the springs on my car so that it would be closer to the ground to help with aerodynamics. I installed a new set of brakes that are lighter and have a better performance. I also put in a new, lighter flywheel to help get a better connection of power to my wheels.

I cranked the engine and flew out of the garage. A Southern Hill license plate that read SPDDMON shined bright with help from the red LED lights underneath my car. I called Flame using the handsfree feature in the car. She picked up on the first ring.

"Which way?" I asked.

"He made a right out of the driveway," she responded. "He's 2 miles ahead of you heading into the heart of Acorn City."

The car roared as I smashed the pedal to the floor.
"How close do I have to be to shut him down with an EMP?" I asked.

"You have to be within .2 miles for 8 seconds, the app isn't as powerful on everyone else's phone," she replied. She was in her office cleaning up her arm injury. Luckily it was only a flesh wound. She was still shaken up from Blaze throwing her into the wall after shooting her but she brushed it off and regained focus. "He's not taking the interstate, he didn't enter on to the ramp, he's still going south on Hampton avenue. Turn left!"

I yanked the e-brake while turning and let the rear of the car swing out before I mashed the gas again and let go of the e-brake. I turned onto hard gravel and my new and improved vehicle showed it's ass, or should I say rear lights? I hadn't driven her in a while but it was no doubt she was more aggressive and agile. Almost as importantly, her control was precise, and in this moment precision was what I was praying for the most.

"You can make some ground right here!" she said, "if you keep straight you'll enter the street he's on before he's able to turn off of it but you gotta punch it! Go!"

The street I was on, Walker Street, was known for being busy in the day time but dead at night, like right now. Businesses wouldn't be opening for a few hours and this side of town stayed quiet with few late night attractions available. It was safe to activate the nitrous oxide in my car. I was going 97 mph which quickly gained to 132 mph in a matter of seconds. The map was pulled up on my infotainment system and showed .8 miles to the part of the road where my street ends and turns into the street Blaze would be on. Sure enough at.4 miles away I saw Blaze's Corvette cross the intersection. If I had to guess I was about 11 seconds behind him. I entered St. Johns Street as I achingly caught up to Blaze.

I needed to be .2 miles in range of him for about 8 seconds so I could shut his car down and I needed to do it before we entered downtown Acorn City because unlike Southern Hills downtown area, AC's was a clubbing area and it would be packed out tonight due to it being the 20th annual SHAC Rivalry Weekend. Once a year Southern Hill and Acorn City partner together to host an eventful weekend filled with sports, parades, concerts & fundraisers for upcoming projects amongst the two cities. Our mayor calls it constructive competition.

"2 miles before you reach downtown. ETA 44 seconds!" Flames voice came bursting through the speakers. I was aware of the situation as well as how rapidly we were approaching a bad location. There would be a high police presence and an ever higher civilian one. I had to stay on his tail while we were on a straight path before all the curves and turns that came with downtown AC were another challenge I was faced with. 178 MPH and my hands were almost numb from how tightly I gripped the wheel. If not for the sweat on the palms of my hands I probably would've melted the steering wheel from friction.

"You've got 20 seconds man! Make your fucking move!" It was Flame who spoke the words but it wasn't her voice that I heard, it was Blaze's, from a memory. An old memory of simpler and more trustworthy days. I took a quick glance at my passenger seat at a pair of well worn racing gloves.

"Let's do this shit then!" I said as I powered on the EMP while nudging the Corvettes rear bumper. Blaze honked his horn in return. Oh come on baby boy, it's officially rivalry weekend for me.