THE FORGOTTEN CHARACTER

CHAPTER 3

[Once again reminding y'all...events in this story will have certain similarities with the series but not entirely. There will be scenes created entirely by us (massive changes in plot too) so please understand this and don't come to us saying..."This wasn't there in the series!"]

"P'Alan, can you please check-"

"Later," Alan replied monotonously, his fingers scurrying absentmindedly across the papers scattered across his desk. His presence was in the garage, but mind somewhere else. Forehead creased with visible worry lurking all upon his facial feature, there was only one thing the garage owner could think about.

Where is Way?

Two days had passed and Way was nowhere to be seen near the garage. Alan had once called him up, which after ringing thrice in a row, was finally picked up by the owner of the number. Way's voice wasn't much stable, rather broken and slightly croaky, and Alan could swear that something was definitely not right. Way had informed him that he had caught a bad cold and would come back after three days. But Alan wasn't convinced.

The man had a strong urge to go visit the boy in his apartment. But being a garage owner wasn't an easy task, especially when you have to handle almost everything by yourself. It wasn't that Alan didn't trust his mates. It was his excessive affection for perfection that compelled him to stay back at the garage, preventing him from venturing further in his assumptions.

Alan got up from his seat, looking a little distressed. He looked around the garage to see all his mechanics working efficiently. In a distance, Babe was inspecting his car, Charlie accompanying him, both talking endlessly. In another corner, Jeff the new mechanic, was engrossed in his work, with North and Sonic continuously bugging him. Alan chuckled a bit, seeing Jeff being so emotionless even after all the bickering around him. But he couldn't deny.

Something about Jeff's presence stirred a new feeling within him. Alan had never felt it before, yet he wouldn't say a no to it, 'cause he was enjoying this new found feeling to every bit of it and definitely wanted more of it.

"P'Alan," As soon as his name was called, Alan whipped his head towards the direction, only to see Dean running to him. Before Alan could say something, the boy continued, "S-Someone's out th-there...t-to...s-see...y-you..."

"Catch some breath boy," Alan replied, as Dean collapsed on the ground, still panting, "Who is it?"

Dean raised his hand, "D-Don't...kn-know..." he waved his hand indicating a 'no'.

Curious, Alan quickly went out of the garage. Upon looking here and there, he soon spotted an unknown black car parked a few paces away from the building. Alan was about to walk towards the vehicle to check, when suddenly, he saw a man emerging out of the driver's seat and walk towards him.

Alan looked at him carefully. As far as he knew, he had never seen him before. The other one wasn't too tall, almost of Alan's height. He was handsome, a calm face with a rigid expression, perfectly build, and dressed in black. The man had a brown envelope in his hand and as soon as he edged closer to Alan, he lightly smiled.

"You must be Alan, incharge of X-Hunter" began the man. Upon Alan nodding in reply, he continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm  Kenta, representative of Red Racing." He extended his hand.

The name of the team itself made Alan's blood boil. Yet out of politeness, he accepted the handshake.

"What do you want?" Alan questioned immediately, the presence of the other man being quite bothersome to him.

"It's about a deal," spoke Kenta, "Fair square. Mr. Tony wants you to exchange Babe with a Red Racing racer since he sees full potential in Red Racing instead of X-Hunter."