Fluctuating Lights: First Stage

Chapter 5: Training Starts Now! Part 1

Chapter 5: Training starts now! Part 1

Uncle Ryan pulls into a driveway with a blue 1992 Toyota Supra parked in the garage. A man with gray hair and green eyes is underneath the car working on it. "You haven't changed one bit, have you Nick." "Oh look who it is. The man who still drives a car from the 80's." "Like you're one to talk. That Supra of yours is almost as old." They both laugh in unison. Nick gets out from under his car. "I've come here for your help." "Yeah? Help with what?" "You've probably heard about how my nephew has been doing lately on highway 57." "Jack? Oh sure, he's made a name for himself there. But I don't think he will be staying there for long. Highway 57 is a good beginner course. It may have been my home course but only raced on it when someone asked to race here." "I think you're right. Anyways, let's talk about why I came here. You probably already have heard about what happened to his sister." "Yeah.... I was at that race." "I mentioned you to Jack and I want you to train him so he can beat tougher opponents." "Hmm. Should I do what I usually do? Make him try and get a specific time on the course each run, still trying to shave off a fraction of a second off his course record." "That should help him get better. He told me he almost beat Zack." "So Zack has come out of retirement to race again huh. He was the only equal opponent to the Grim Reaper." "So, will you do it?" "Yeah sure. I will make him a better racer than he is now." "Can't wait to see what happens. Well, I gotta get going. I have to clean up the mechanics shop that Jack's parents used to own before Ashley took over. It's gonna stay closed for a while but I still want it clean." Ryan waves to Nick as he gets in his eight-six and drives off.

"J-Jack i l-love you." "Ahhh!" Jack wakes up in a cold sweat with tears filling his eyes. "Another nightmare." He looks at the time. It reads two in the morning. He wipes the tears from his face. "How many fucking times have I woken up tonight? It seems like once every hour." Jack tries to go back to sleep but can't. "I haven't slept properly in about three days." Jack closes his eyes, eventually falling asleep. He wakes up and checks his phone. "Saturday. I can just relax today." Uncle Ryan pokes his head into Jack's room. "Uncle? What are you doing?" "You know that guy I told you about? Well he's up for training you. He said he wants to make you a better racer." "Really, so when's he training me?" "Right now." "Right now?!" "Yes, he's waiting for you outside. So get ready." "Alright then. Just give me like five minutes." Jack puts on some clean clothes and heads outside. "So, you're Jack. I've heard so much about you from your uncle here." Nick says with a smirk. "Yeah. That's me." Jack gets a good look at Nick's car. "Nice ride you got there. My friend Michael would go crazy if he saw that." "Really. I presume he likes Supra's?" "He indeed does. In fact he owns a Supra RZ." "An RZ huh. That's one generation ahead of mine. Well, let's get to work." "Alright. How are you gonna be training me anyways." "I'll give you the rundown. Since there's not that many people on the highway you can just drive normally. So what you're gonna be doing is trying to get a set time each run you do on the highway on this clipboard here. Every other run you will still try to shave off a fraction of a second off your personal record. You will use a stopwatch to record your times. Once you do that you will race me in a one on one race. We will do this every morning and night until you can beat me without effort." "Every morning? But I have school on weekdays." "On weekdays we will do it at night." "I see. Are you sure this will help?" Jack asks. "This is how I trained so I think it's nothing you can't handle. Anyways, let's get going. We will be starting as soon as we enter the highway. I will be watching from the sides until you finish the clipboard." Jack gets into his MR2 and turns the key. The exhaust makes a whistle sound as he turns on his car. Nick and Ryan get into the Supra. Jack shifts his car into reverse and backs out of the driveway. Nick does the same. Nick follows Jack as they drive off to highway 57.

Jack starts to speed through highway 57. Nick and Uncle Ryan are on the side of the road watching Jack do his runs. Jack finishes a run and pulls over to where Nick and Uncle Ryan are. He gets out and walks over to them. "Here. I recorded my times underneath the set times and on the other side of the paper I put my record time versus what I actually got when trying to break my personal record." Nick takes a look at the clipboard in awe. "You smashed your personal record by thirty seconds?!" "Yeah, it was two minutes and fifty seconds last time I tried to go for a personal record on this course. Now it's two minutes and twenty seconds." "I think you're still not ready to face the Grim Reaper. His style of racing is going full speed at all times. That means he doesn't let up on the gas." "That's common knowledge on the highway. That's how I win my races sometimes. It's difficult to control and requires skill to drive at those speeds. Flooring the gas pedal is a common strategy but can blow your engine if you're not careful." "Yeah I know that. But if you can't beat me. You won't stand a chance against him." "We haven't even raced before." "True. You haven't. But since you accomplished what you needed to do today. We will race as promised." "Alright, you're on." Both of them get into they're cars and line up. The sound of the tire's squealing as they take off fills the semi empty highway with noise. "I know you can do it Jack!" Sydney yells out on top of a bridge that crosses the highway as they pass her. Uncle Ryan stands where they were not knowing what to do. "I guess I'll wait for them to get done. I'm basically stranded here without Nick." Jack's car pulls ahead but Nick isn't that far behind him. Sydney notices a silver 1990 Mazda RX7 Savanna pass by her. "An FC? That thing was fast. It might be even faster than the Grim Reaper." The car gets up behind Jack and Nick. The person driving has long white hair with a red left eye and a silver right eye. He speeds past them paying no attention to them and pulls off the highway.