Fluctuating Lights: First Stage

Chapter 19: The world of racing Part 2

Chapter 19: The world of racing Part 2

The lights signaled the start and turn green, Jack floors the gas taking off like a rocket. He takes first place, everyone else is lagging behind by the smallest margin. 'This track has a lot of corners with some straightaways from memory. Let's see how well I do on the first lap.' Jack thinks to himself as he upshifts.

Jack approaches the first corner after a long straightaway, he downshifts and heel and toes pulling off a flawless braking drift kissing the guardrail. 'Damn, this kid is good. He reminds me of myself with this natural talent that can't be explained.' Yoichi thought as they exited the first corner. "Alright, let's do this!" Jack yelled out as he pressed his foot down on the throttle until it hit the floor. He upshifts as he enters another corner flawlessly gripping through it without braking at all. 'This part of course reminds me of Usui Pass in Japan due to how curvy it is. I miss street racing there, those were the days.' Yoichi thought as Jack entered a straightaway at high speed.

Michael is right behind Jack in second place. "This friend of yours is fast, reminds me of a certain someone riding shotgun with him." Roy says. "You got that right! Jack is the fastest driver on Highway 57 after all." Michael says as he gets up to Jack's bumper. "No kidding, you gotta school this kid, straight up. We ain't teaching you yet, but next race we will teach you proper technique and lines to take." Roy says as Jack pulls ahead by a good amount.

...

Sydney and Michelle are constantly passing each other basically tandem drifting as Trent effortlessly overtakes both of them through the inside earning third place. "He was waiting to do that! What a cheap trick! He waited until both of us were battling to take third." Michelle exclaims. 'Not bad, he's skilled with the Z chassis. I'll give him that. But Michelle's car has more power that she can pull ahead on the straights.' Emily thinks as they enter the first straightaway that leads into five consecutive hairpins.

...

Jack enters the first of the five hairpins with Michael right on his tail. Jack slams on the clutch and clutch kicks into the hairpin while slamming the throttle down doing a four wheel drift with Michael right beside him with inches to spare from each other. Jack exits the corner milliseconds before Michael. He starts pulling ahead on the short straightaway. Michael is practically kissing his bumper, Jack slightly hits his brakes and then flicks his car outwards and back in again inertia drifting into the second hairpin. "How you like that Michael!" Jack yells out loud as he flawlessly exits the hairpin. Michael gets passed by Michelle who grips through the second hairpin in pursuit of Jack. "I just got passed by a Muscle car! I can't let this stand!" Michael exclaims. "That's Muscle cars for you, they have high power and acceleration which can make a fierce combo. A downside is their weight which can make cornering a challenge." Roy observes as Michelle pulls behind Jack.

"I'd expect nothing less from Michelle! Let's dance." Jack says as he speeds up. He approaches the third hairpin and lightly taps the brakes while giving his steering wheel a slight nudge. He enters the corner with incredible speed, Yoichi is looking at him amused. "You're pretty good kid, you could give me a run for my money if you went professional." Yoichi says with a smile. "Thanks, I'm gonna show you a flawless victory." Jack says with a competitive smile.

...

They finished the practice race with Jack coming out on top. "Goddamn! You're really good for a kid who's still a teenager!" Roy says to Jack who gives him a chuckle of embarrassment. "Thanks sir, I appreciate it, I'm glad you think I'm skilled but there's far better opponent's than me. Take Honshu Rukio for example, he's way better than I'll ever be. As well as James Rin who's nicknamed the Grim Reaper, He would mop the floor with me even if he played fair." Jack states.

"Honshu? Do you really think so? My son isn't THAT skilled." Kozo says, jumping into the conversation. "You're his father? He's really good, his speed is something else. His skills along with that car of his make a deadly combo." Jack says. 'So Honshu has gotten better since the last time I saw him race. He never talks to his old man anymore, not he would need to anyways.' Kozo thinks with a grin.

The day went on with Jack constantly winning race after race. Sydney and Michael performed the worst while Michelle and Trent were neck and neck. Of course Jack had a steady pace and speed.

...

"That was one hell of a day, that guy who was my instructor was really good at giving me advice." Jack says as he and Uncle Ryan hop out of his MR2. "Yoichi is his name. All the instructors are all part of the same team. Yoichi is the best racer they have while the others are equally matched in skill and technique. Kozo is Yoichi's only equal from memory." Uncle Ryan says while they walk inside.

Jack walks upstairs and crashes into his bed. "What a day, I don't think I've been this exhausted while racing. Yoichi is an incredible driver and teacher. I can't wait to see him race one day, I want to see his technique." Jack mumbles as he falls asleep.