Biker Mice From Mars - Midnight Defender

9: Running out of Time

Takagi was shocked. The Speed Master was here with Kitami?! He got out of his chair and walked outside the shop.

He saw Manuel with Akio, Reina, Tatsuya, and Kitami. Along with a young girl in a hood, a young man, and an older man. All in front of a Ford Focus ZX3. The Devil Z and Blackbird were not far off.

"Kitami! What is the meaning of this?!" Takagi demanded.

"Ah, good to see you too, old friend," Kitami said. "I know you are busy, but this is rather... important. I need you to..."

"Hold on! I am not finished!" Takagi snapped. "First the Devil Z, then the Blackbird, and now this?! I'm getting too old for this..."

Takagi then stopped speaking when he saw the look in Kitami's eye. It demanded silence.

"Lives are in danger, Takagi," Kitami said, an eerie calm in his voice. "I'll explain inside."

Sometime Later...

Yuichi Takagi sighed, after being brought up to speed on what happened with Manuel, and the Biker Mice's situation.

"Alright." Takagi sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

Kitami's face hardened into seriousness. "I need you to take the body of that Focus, and lighten it up. The chassis and body also need to be reinforced to withstand 340 KM/H. And this time, I do not want you to do this on your own; Use your whole team on this car. Micro-mange the details. We can't afford any mistakes. Use every last man, and make it a priority. It needs to be ready in two weeks. As for the engine, I'll take care of that myself."

Takagi was stunned. "340 KM/H?! And you want my whole team on this? You're serious about this, aren't you?"

"Very," Kitami replied.

Unknown warehouse

Tokyo docks...

One Week later...

Modo hung from his bindings in the cage, pain searing across his body. His hands and feet felt like they was going numb. No doubt Throttle and Vinnie felt the same way. Charley and Carbine were over in another room, so the bros and Stoker weren't sure if they was alright or not. Or more importantly, if they were doing anything to them.

. "We... Got to get out of here..." Vinnie said, pulling weakly against the chains that held them in the cage. "We can't... give up..."

"Behave yourself, Mouse-man." A guard cautioned, picking up a cattle prod. Another guard then pulled it away.

"Relax, it's not like they're going anywhere. They can't break those chains in their current state." The second guard said.

"Throttle... I'm sorry..." Stoker said, struggling to speak in his weakened state. "If I didn't try to make off with the other regenerator on mars... Maybe things would have been different..."

"That's not your fault, Stoker." Throttle responded flatly. "Save your strength."

Stoker was quiet after that.

Throttle was mentally praying all of them would be able to survive the next week. The first one was already difficult enough. He was specifically worried about Stoker since he was older. Could they hold on for another week until Kaido's race for revenge? And what if he actually won? What then?

Body Shop Sunday...

Two Days before the race...

Midnight...

Manuel and the others waited impatiently for Kitami, Akio, and Takagi's team to finish the upgrades to the Focus's engine and body. After a couple more minutes, Kitami came out, wiping oil off his hands with a rag.

"That's it," Kitami said. "I bored and stroked the engine to four point eight liters, milled the heads, put on a better supercharger, put on a better performance exhaust and, and installed some upgrades for the gearbox, among other things. Takagi also has lightened the body with fiberglass panels and reinforced the chassis. He also added in extras to the roll cage. We estimate the car will have a little over Seven-hundred fifty horsepower. She's ready for a test run."

"Good." Manuel then walked into the garage.

"I also want to come along for the test run. See how she performs," Kitami said.

"Very well." Manuel then looked at his Focus. It looked just about the same to an ordinary eye, but to people like Manuel, Kitami, and Takumi, they could tell it had undergone a transformation. It's stance now demanded respect from not only the crowd but the driver as well.

"Alright, let's see how she runs," Manuel said, getting in and starting the car. The engine came to life, growling as if it were a hungry animal as it idled. Kitami got in the passenger seat, and Spitfire got in the back. Manuel saw Bunta and Takumi out the window. Manuel rolled it down.

"Be careful." Takumi cautioned. "Since this is now a much more powerful engine, you'll need to take it easy until the race."

"Got it," Manuel said.

With that, they pulled out of the Body Shop and took off down the road to test the car so Manuel could get used to it. They went down several Tokyo streets, then got on the Wangan. As Manuel accelerated up to the speed limit, he noticed how easy it was to get up to high speeds now! Much easier than before! The gas pedal responded to his lightest touch! Kitami looked impressed, too! And they were just practicing at the speed limit!

"Want to push it further?" Kitami asked.

"No, not right now," Manuel said, his face still stone serious. "I'm grateful for everything Kitami, but I need to make some adjustments of my own. Mainly with the suspension. It's too loose in the back, and I don't want the car to bottom out at high-speed. Also, I need to adjust car's wing in the back to compensate for any lost grip after the weight reduction. Let's head back to the shop."