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

Chapter 2: Turn 5

         "AND THE RACE IS NECK-TO-NECK WITH TANAKA, AGAINST THE SELF-PROCLAIMED CYAN-DIORITE!" The microphone-wielding man was now back to announcing the race, constantly pointing at the low-riding, tan cars.

     "Do you just like saying 'neck-to-neck' or something? They're not really all that close to each other, actually." Marian pursed her lips.

     "You're not gonna beat me, kid!" A vein popped out from Cyan-Diorite's forehead, as Tanaka revved ahead of him. "No, you're not! I'm gonna be the one who drives people around in the utopian future we have planned! You're not... getting in my way!"

     "Damn, those guys have some ambition. I was just doin' this race for fun." A random racer frowned in his car. "I guess I should just quit, go back to makin' brussel-sprouts in my mom's attic. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. She always did love my brussel-sprouts." 

     Suddenly, Marian folded her hands, standing by an array of outdoor speakers. "Tanaka... has gotten so much better, and I keep saying that, but... it's just amazing to be able to watch someone progress like that. So, knock'em dead, boy." 

     "Give it a rest, punk-ass!" Tanaka shouted back at Cyan-Diorite, unraveling his window to stick his head out. "It's not just my friend who knows about you and your group, now... it's slowly gaining traction on the internet! Conspiracies are being misplaced and transferred all over the place. Your syndicate, if it even is one, is slowly being found out! This 'utopian future' you have set out for yourself... isn't going to come to fruition!"

     "'Punk-ass'? 'Not going to come to fruition'? Come on, you little shit! Where's the respect you're supposed to have for your opponents? How dare you shit on my dreams! You think you can awaken the hyper-vigilance among the conspiratorial, so that way any suspicion of a group like ours just gets snuffed out? Hmph! Your plan is too simple, boy." Cyan-Diorite began to floor it, past Tanaka. 

     "Oh, no you don't!" Tanaka sped up, slammed into the back of Cyan-Diorite's car. "How dare you shit on my dreams? Who do you think you are?"

     "What? Hey, that's my car! Fuck off, are you trying to get disqualified? What the hell are you doing, kid? You might end up killing us both! Are you sane?" The blue-haired man's voice was now gravelly, as he gripped his steering wheel 'til his fingers turned white.  

     "I'm... not sure! I can't... stop! I can't stop, because you're not going... to shit on my dreams -- or anyone else's -- any longer!" 

     Tanaka managed to turn Cyan-Diorite's car around, then crash the two vehicles into each other. Toppled over one another, glass and metal shattered into themselves. Ending the race as other cars suddenly stopped before the explosion, a fire soon spread. 

     The other racers sped backwards, their cars reversing away from the scene. Members of the small audience screamed, running in terror. Car parts such as wheels, tires, and stick-shifts flew out of windows and into the stands of the audience. 

     "WHAT THE HELL? THIS IS A DISASTER! EVERYBODY EVACUATE! WE SEEM TO HAVE SOME AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS ON THE FLOOR TONIGHT!" The announcer dropped his mic and ran. 

     Her mouth quivering, Marian stood there in shock. "H- He... did not just-"  

     "I'm... okay." Tanaka climbed out of his beat-up car as it caught more and more on fire after the aggressive, sudden stunt he pulled. 

     "You... idiot! This is the second crash you've miraculously survived, you 'member? How many lives do you think you have, huh?" Marian ran over and slapped the young man across the face. "Further, do you really think being a murderer is cool?"  

     "I-" Tanaka put a hand to his arm, the muscle aching. "I'm... s- sorry, Marian." Tears streaming down his face, he clenched a fist. "I just wanted to put a stop to him, once and for all. To that... Cravius Moon. He was a criminal, you know? He was a member of a syndicate that was trying to make driving illegal in all the other parts of Canada! This world -- our world -- has already gone through so much. Haven't you read the history books? The empire of Eurovania being overthrown into Gretchenia and all that. I just wanted to have a settled-down, but advanced, life. A life that made sense! A life that wouldn't be in the vicinity of any political usurping for a while. And this man... wanted to take a large portion of everyone's..." Tanaka fell to the ground, his legs wobbly. "... independence away. I'm not- I can't be... crazy for doing what I did, right? I felt this burning passion within me and I... just took it. In that moment, not even... driving mattered anymore. Saving the world did. Saving the world from horrible men like him. Am I... so bad... just because of modern, flimsy laws on morality? People used to flay each other in the Bronze Age, you know? That son of a bitch's lucky I didn't do anything worse. He's-" 

     Marian cracked her knuckles. "Settle down, puppy. Where did he go, though?" 

     "G- Good question. I think he ran away, but-" Tanaka suddenly looked to see a bloodied arm sticking out from under his opponent's car.

     Crumpled up bits of bone acted as debris which covered the area around the pair of smashed cars. Among the fire, blood vessels could be seen expanding and popping. Veins and sinew charred to ash as a bony hand was soon left over, reaching its arm out to the road. 

      Having seen this, Tanaka turned away from Marian, and proceeded to vomit up chunks.

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