Biker Mice from Mars - Mountain Drift

Chapter 5: Drifter

Near Bogus Basin road...

As they approached Bogus Basin road from Hill road, Manuel took it easy with the CR-X. Throttle rode in the passenger seat, trying to relax. He sighed, his mind going back to Modo and Vinnie. He kept thinking about them, wondering if they were alright.

"I know you're worried about them, Throttle," Manuel said. "But worrying won't do any good. We will find them, even though it may take a while. But you shouldn't obsess over it. It only makes you feel miserable."

Throttle scoffed. "Well, I guess you've got something that can take my mind off it."

Manuel smiled as they got to the stop sign that marked the beginning of Bogus Basin Road. "As a matter of fact, I do. I've been dying to do a comparison of the time it took me to get up the hill and back since I installed the new engine and turbo." He got a stopwatch out, handing it to Throttle. "Time me."

Throttle was confused for a moment. Then Manuel pushed the gas pedal down suddenly. The car lurched, and Throttle was thrown back against the seat from the sudden acceleration. Throttle couldn't believe a car this small could accelerate this fast! Manuel took the car through a few curves, blasting through them at blistering speed.

"Are we having fun, yet?" Manuel laughed. "By the way, this is no ordinary CR-X! I customized it! A lot of people wonder why there's that big lump where the back seat should be. Well, this CR-X has a mid-engine configuration with a different drive train than the standard. This is Mid-engine, Rear-Wheel drive five-speed action which means..." Manuel took the car through another corner, this time sliding the back around the outside! "...That I can drift!"

Throttle was holding onto the sides of his seat, the only thing he could think of grabbing. This was nothing like when he rode on his motorcycle at high speeds! They started to approach a hairpin, Throttle's heart pounding. Manuel took the car into another drift, coming inches from a guardrail! Throttle could swear, he could have just reached out the window and ran his fingers across it as they went by! He held onto his seat for dear life, as Manuel took the car through several more hairpins and curves, burning rubber all the way!

Throttle then noticed how fast they were shooting through the road! The CR-X was approaching one-hundred miles an hour! Throttle's heart raced even faster! But he never told Manuel once to slow down! No way in hell was he going to go chicken! He had survived prison camps and countless battles upon battles! No way in hell was he going to let a mountain road and a twenty-three-year-old with an attitude and a hunger for speed scare him!

"Bet you can't do this any faster..." Throttle challenged.

"I bet I can!" Manuel said with a smile, stepping the pedal to the floor on a straightaway, flying through the gears as they went over the one-hundred mark on the speedometer. Throttle had never experienced such a rush of this kind in his entire life! Flying through the curves, constantly avoiding a collision with the wall or rail, if there was any! Staying away from the edge but challenging the road at the same time! Throttle thought this was unbelievable for a car! Manuel was obviously very skilled!

Finally, after a while of playing drift chicken on the road, Manuel slowed down at a hillside. He pulled over and turned on his hazards.

"Well, here we are. This is where I found you." He parked the car. "Let's see if we can find your motorcycle."

An hour later...

Throttle scoured over the hillside with his binoculars while Manuel looked around the trees with his flashlight.

"That shipwreck is around here somewhere," Manuel said, shining the light around. "This is the road where I found you, after all."

The light shined on some burnt sagebrush. There were scraps of metal scattered about too.

"Throttle! I think I found something. It's a trail of debris... Looks like we'll have to leave the road to see where it goes."

Throttle walked over next to Manuel. "Yep. That's part of my ship, all right. See the marks on the ground? That's where the section I was in slid down the hill on impact."

Throttle started to walk down the hill on his crutch, taking the flashlight. "I'll be back. Wait here."

Manuel watched as Throttle walked out of sight. He was scared, and not of the dark. Ever since meeting Throttle, the fear of the unknown had started to sink in. He started to even wonder how he had slept the night prior. Was Throttle telling the truth? Was he a scout, or something? Would aliens, mice or otherwise, start raining down from the skies to invade and take over? And what would happen when Throttle finally recovered? What would he do then? Hell, what if the government were the ones after him?

Manuel shook his head, trying to let the paranoia slide off his shoulders. He then heard a motor crank, then start.

The next thing he knew, he saw Throttle fly over the hillside and onto the road, on a big, cool-looking motorcycle! It's black paint and chrome parts shining in the moonlight! It practically screamed badassdom! It stopped inches from Manuel!

"Found it!" Throttle said, revving the engine slightly to make the bike purr. "Now let's see who can get back to the apartment the fastest!"

"I consider that a challenge," Manuel said with a smirk.

"That it is, kid."

"In that case, let's get it on!" Manuel then ran back to his car, started it up, and they both took off down Bogus as fast as the road could possibly allow!