Phrenology: E-Lunar (3) Route A (MANUSCRIPT)

Chapter 3, Turn 3

    "Some people..." Tanaka got behind the wheel of a car, the windy winter evening of Ajax blowing frigid air his way. The area around him was coated with trees, a beautiful forest. "... have different reasons for driving. As for myself? I do it for a lot."

    "Well then... I guess you're not just 'some people'." Marian looked out at Tanaka from the open window in her car; to the left of Tanaka, her car was shielded from any Monday night moonlight by the overlapping trees which stood around a path that was cut in the middle of the forest. This was to be made so in order for vehicles and people to get through the woodlands.

    Tanaka nodded and laughed, "Well, I'm someone, definitely. A slightly silly person at that, since I was just talking to myself. Narrating, I'd actually call it. And... man, Marian, I never knew you were up on the local one-on-one derbies in Ajax! That's so cool! I've never even seen a race take place at night!" 

    "ALRIGHT!" a muffled voice of an announcer could be heard across the small audience of youthful boys and older men, standing stood around the two cars. With Tanaka on the right and Marian on the left, the two friends gripped tightly to their steering wheels. "IF YOU TWO KIDS ARE DONE THROWING SEXY QUIPS AT EACH OTHER... THEN LET'S GET THIS SHOW... ON THE ROAD! GET IT! I'M FUCKING FUNNY, GOD DAMN IT!" 

    "I wonder where that phrase came from." Tanaka smiled, brushing the long brown bangs out of his eyes. 

    "Good question. If you beat me, I'll tell you." The red-headed diva winked. "And remember... there's always more than one way to beat me." 

    The announcer would speak so close to the microphone that tiny pops could be heard exploding all across the speakers which filled up the sides of the local raceway. "ON YOUR MARKS-" 

    "Oh boy." Tanaka gripped his steering wheel tighter. "I'm gonna give myself arthritis." 

    "GET SET." 

    "This is the real shit, huh?" Marian smiled a crooked grin. "I never really raced in a local race before. Only know the crowd. Have friends in low places like these, and you'll get to drive all the time." 

    "GO!" 

    "I got it, chief!" Tanaka sped his car down the road, putting his foot gently on the pedal at first and then pushing down harder and harder. 

    "Nice form for a beginner!" Marian yelled from across the road, all four of her windows rolled down as she wore a pair of sunglasses and a fuchsia collar. 

    "Hm. Yeah, I guess I've got a lot to learn." The young man took a sharp turn down the race track; as did the fashionable Theodora. 

    "I didn't think you'd get that turn." Marian took a deep breath, sitting up straight in her car. "Definitely thought you were distracted. That was a sharp turn. Sharper than the way you look tonight, Tannie." 

    "I'm not gonna get distracted. I'm pretty good at having my foot on the break." 

    "That's fair." Marian smiled as the two raced further down the track, their vehicles going eighty miles per hour.

    "Oh crap! There's some sort of maneuver up ahead. Can I do this?" Tanaka held on tight to his steering wheel, sizing up ahead the fact that he had to do a few turns in a sharp place along this winding race track in the middle of the dark forest. 

    "It's only a few turns with a hill a narrow shoulder! Wow, you really are a beginner. Almost forgot there, for a second. I knew you'd remind me at some point." Marian blew a kiss at her male friend and pulled off the maneuver very well, leaving Tanaka behind in the wake and rubble. 

    "Ouch?" Tanaka rubbed the top of his head. 

    "Don't worry about it, Tannie! There's always next time! This racetrack isn't going anywhere, you know." 

    Tanaka sighed, slowed down, and suddenly got out of his car. "She has a point." 

    "IT APPEARS THAT THE MALE CHALLENGER HAS JUST EXITED HIS VEHICLE! THE WINNER BY DEFAULT IS... MARIAN THEODORA!"

    "What? Seriously, Tanaka?" Marian looked back, pushing down to a hard break. 

    "I know, I know." The young man shook his head. "I just really didn't wanna try and see if I could make that maneuver. Like you said, there's always next time... and I'm a beginner."

    "You're really just gonna let my saucy competitive talk psych you out?" 

    "Marian, it's not about that. I just wanna be more-" 

    "Excuse me," The voice from a stranger suddenly resonated throughout the darkened woods- the cold night air carried a foreign breath that smelled of barley and grass. "I'd like to have a moment of your time, if I could." The man had short blue hair, a very light blue that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb in the pitch-dark night. "It appears the current race would be over, and I won't be very long." The stranger, dressed in a black jacket, spoke in a quiet voice.

    "WHAT'S THIS? WHAT DO YOU WANT, SIR?" the black and intricately designed speakers, surrounding the area of the forested raceway, popped and fizzled along with the mysterious announcer's constantly aroused tone. 

    "Man, does that guy ever lose the 'announcer' voice?" Tanaka rolled his eyes. "Must hold such pride in being loud." 

    "Do you realize how sinful driving is, good sir? I come to spread the word from the goodness that has already happened in Little Japan." 

    "Oh, I see. So you've come to spread the illegalization of driving, is that it?" Tanaka squinted his eyes. "Must be some crazy extremist from Little Japan. I'm from there, you know. I hate it."

    "Hm? Why, you could put it that way, yes. That is, that I'm an... extremist." the blue-haired man rolled up a his sable sleeves, revealing throbbing biceps. 

    "Well, too bad." Tanaka took a deep breath. "I won't let my dreams at becoming a driver be stopped by some radical like you. Driving. It's always been something I've wanted to. Everybody these days thinks that the best way to get around is in a giant mech. Legends of previous mech-owners have circled the world over. But I wanted to be counter to that. To resist it; rebel against it. I wanted to be simple. Drive a car, not a mech. You see, I've got friends who wield some pretty crazy dreams themselves too. Wanting to become the greatest chefs of their generation, to prove the online critics these days all wrong. Hmph. So, you're going to have to race me for it. Straight race- no turns or weird maneuvers. Unless, you don't drive yourself. Since after all, you're part of a movement that's against it." 

    The stranger eyed Tanaka up and down, putting two fingers to his chin and frowning for a moment. "Very well, young one. I shall take you up on this challenge and... race you. To which ever deity is watching me right now from above... I give my sincerest apologies. May the divinities watch over you, young one." 

    "IT SEEMS WE HAVE A SURPRISE CHALLENGE." 

    "You've got some balls, Tanaka..." Marian watched her friend challenge a very buff-looking stranger. "... and I bet they're big too. Just when I thought you were chickening out." 

    "I hope this can go by quick. I plan on being back to school by tomorrow just in time for the Cooking Club. By the way, the name's Tanaka. Yours?" the brown-haired boy glared at the stranger. 

    "Cyan Diorite." 

________