Need For Speed Fortune Valley Stories

Chapter 13 - Open Skies Part 5

A day later. 12:43 p.m. Garage. "So Jordan, you're gonna take on the Free Ember Militia group. After that, I'm sure we'll have one of the leagues as our allies. Try to beat them first." I said. "I understand." Jordan replied. 30 minutes later. Ember Valley. "Great day for racing, girls! Taking bets on how long this showman will last." Faith said. "Wonderful, I'm racing against girls." Jordan said in his mind as he revved. "You better not wipe out on the first step, Showman!" Faith replied. "Oh my GOD!" Jordan exclaimed as he approached the jump. " *laughter* Need a change of pants?" Faith asked. Meanwhile. "Hey Adena, I want to let you know we tuned your runner car into a race car. Come with me to check it out, the mechanic that the Broker hired modified some parts of the car." Letty called as she went into Adena's room. "Yeah, sure." Adena replied as she and Letty went downstairs to the garage outside to look at the car. "Well, what do you think?" Letty asked. "It looks awesome. What parts of the car did he modify?" Adena asked. "The mechanic told me he mostly modified the tires, rims, the lights and the mirrors. We've equipped a new hood because this one is lighter than the old one so we chose to reduce a little bit of the car's weight. Also there's a dramatic power increase to the engine and a handling change to the suspension. I told him to leave the Body Kit as well because I know you like the RWB Kit." Letty answered. "Sweet. The paint job looks different from the first one. Even the brakes and the interior." Adena replied as she looks at the car's looks. "Dom and I equipped a Roll Cage along with Bucket seats and custom gauges. It's also got a new tachometer cause the engine has a high RPM limit. The paint is used as an undercover style authorization. That way you can go undercover during the races to find out what's under the hood or what's in secret with the Demon Lords. Hope you like it." Letty said. "Let's take it for a spin." Adena replied as she got in the car. "Alright, here we go." Letty said as she opened the door and got in the car. Silver Canyon. "Hmph. Well, you're not a complete waste of our time. Also, one of my girls found an abandoned motocross circuit. They're heading there now... You better show." Faith said. "A motocross track in cars?" Jordan asked as he drove to the destination. "Why the hell not! It'll be fun." Faith answered. Minutes later. "Touch the sun for me on these jumps, girls!" Faith said. "And Jordan!" Jordan exclaimed. "But you can't even get half their vertical on these jumps." Faith replied. "Let's go!" Jordan exclaimed as he and the other cars launched. "Alright, now let's see how the settings can handle. Turns out Dom was the one fixing it. It should be able to handle those jumps." Jordan said in his mind as he approached the jumps. He jumped and he started drifting but Jordan noticed something when he started to steer less on the corners. "Okay, if I don't turn too much. I can clear the corners faster than the usual! I got this!" Jordan said in mind as he turned the wheel with zero countersteer and drifted into the corners. Garage. "How did it handle?" Letty asked. "Apparently, she's holding the road better from before. However, the tires are gripping the pavement as well but it seems like it's giving out a lot. The weight is starting to shift a lot to the rear to be honest." Adena answered. "Would you like me to adjust the tire pressure a bit along with raising a little bit on the back?" Letty asked. "Yeah, I think that should support it. You know this car rocks well on any course. And we should tell Branden and Ellie about next week's weather during the battle at Mount Providence." Adena answered as she went to Ellie's and my room. "Okay, I'll fix it. While I'm at it." Letty replied. "Hey Branden and Ellie! I need to talk to you about something!" Adena called as she knocked on the door and opened it. "Come in." Ellie replied. "So you know about next week's battle right?" Adena asked. "Yeah, what about it?" I asked. "Apparently Letty and I checked next week's forecast and it said that we're gonna have some rain in the night." Adena answered. "How bad is the rain?" Ellie asked. "The rain's not bad but it might be bad later. Letty wants you two to practice driving in the rain as well. It'll help you increase your skills of driving on wet conditions. Plus it shouldn't be bad in the later parts. It'll be back clear at like 9 pm." Adena answered. We nodded our heads and went back to doing our own thing. Minutes later. "I got it! Why you're all the way out here? You're insane. You're crazy. Absolutely mad. You do this because anything else would be boring." Jordan asked. "There you go, Showman! You bet your ass it'd be boring! What's the point of racing if you don't get battle scars?" Faith asked. "I would think of one or two-." Jordan answered. "Don't. You just got on my good side. Okay, you earned it. Final challenge. You at the airfield?" Faith asked. "I can get there, yeah." Jordan answered. Meanwhile. Garage. Kitchen. I was grabbing something to drink. When I was grabbing my drink from the fridge. Kaylyn spilled oil on my left flank when I didn't notice it while grabbing my drink. After I grabbed it, I walked and I stepped on something slippery which was the oil. I lost control and I slipped and I fell down. When i was sitting after I tripped. I saw who did it which was Ms.Chan. "What the hell was that for?!" I exclaimed. "You've been pranked!" Kaylyn answered. "This is not even funny! Look what you did to me!" I replied as I showed my bruise. "What was that?!" Ellie asked as she heard banging or stomp noises from downstairs. "Something happened downstairs!" Adena answered as she, Ellie and Letty ran downstairs from upstairs. "I wonder what could that be." Letty wondered as she ran along with them. "Oh my goodness! Branden, what happened?!" Adena asked as she ran up to me. "Apparently someone spilled oil while I was grabbing a drink and I slipped on it and got this bruise on my knee." I answered as I rolled up my sleeve on my left leg to show my bruise. "Branden, do you know who did this?" Letty asked. "Ms.Chan did it because she wanted to prank me, but I didn't say she could prank me and I disapprove it. Plus I just got a stupid bruise on my leg cause of this." I answered as I showed my bruise. "Oh my god, what the hell's the matter with you? You were obviously trying to hurt my son. What did he do to you?!" Adena asked. "Nothing.. well because that Karina trainer is teaching him instead of me." Kaylyn answered. "That doesn't give you the right to hurt him, he didn't do anything wrong to you. First you hurt my racing teacher and now you hurt Branden. You are a disgrace." Ellie replied. Letty was grabbing me an ice pack and she start to apply it to my bruise. "Gahh..." I groaned. "Does it hurt?" Letty asked. "A little because it's cold. It feels a little good though." I answered. "You know what Kaylyn. You're obviously a bitch who gives a fuck about our team and you threatened two people. You are so irresponsible for teaching my son. You are careless and shameful to the team that you are so mean for threatening and hurting them. Get out of our house, now!!" Adena replied. "Ellie, can you heal Branden while I help his mother out?" Letty asked as she got up and walked to the others while Ellie came to me and started healing me. "Are you okay Branden? Does it feel better when I'm healing you?" Ellie asked as she applied the ice pack to my bruise and started healing me. "Yeah, it feels more better when you're healing me." I answered. "Adena's right. You obviously are a disgrace. You obviously have been careless to the team and you have no respect for us at all. All you care about is yourself and you know how to hurt others. I should've not trusted you in the first place Kaylyn. You should stay the hell away from us now careless selfish bitch." Letty said. "Get out of our home right now or I'm calling the cops." Adena replied as she took out her pistol as a force to get Kaylyn out. "Adena, you're taking this too far! Calm down! Kaylyn just get the hell out!" Letty said as she tried to calm Adena down. "I never liked you guys anyway. Hope you guys can rot in hell for all I care." Kaylyn replied as she ran away. Letty closed the door and they went back to check on me. "Let me see what else I can do to heal it." Ellie wondered as she gave a kiss to my bruise. "There we go. Does it feel better Branden?" Ellie asked. "Yes, it feels better." I answered. "Ellie, is he okay?" Adena asked. "He's okay Ms.Lee. Apparently the bruise should heal in a couple days unless he doesn't touch it." Ellie answered. "Branden whatever you do. Just don't talk to Ms.Chan anymore. She is a disgrace to all of us and she just hurt you. Just don't be friends tug her again." Letty replied. "I got that Ms.Disantos. I know what to do. Of course for sure I'm not gonna talk to her again." I said. "Good, that's my son." Adena replied as she and Letty went back to her room. "Are you okay Branden?" Ellie asked. "I'm fine, Ellie. I'm just threatened right now by Ms.Chan. She's leading me to become this careless selfish person. I'm sorry for that Ellie. I hope you know that we're just avoiding her can help." I answered. "I understand Branden, I know how you feel. I don't like her as well." Ellie replied as she gave me a hug. Kitchen. "You know Ms.Chan can rot in hell for all I care Adena." Letty said. "Look I know, but she's definitely putting us in a risk of danger which is totally unacceptable. I mean, what the hell did we even do? You could've got harpooned during that escape from the trap Nova set up against you Jordan and Branden. I obviously think we should ignore her and watch our backs." Adena replied. "Speaking of Jordan, I hope he's doing okay against that FEM team. Obviously their leader is named Faith Jones and it's named in a full sentence Free Ember Militia." Letty said. "Okay, can you fill me in on what have you heard about Free Ember Militia?" Adena asked. "Now I've heard about them and their leader Faith Jones. They're known as an all-female survivalist group with an anti-government stance to the point of conspiracy. They like to go dangerous and wild on off-road sections and jumps. Now Faith Jones, I know that she is a survivalist home schooled in the wilderness outside of Silver Rock and she likes a crazy challenge that fits her daredevil attitude. So for an amateur off-roader like Jordan, he can try to pull it off but he has to figure out how much weight is on that F-150 and it's weakness. But Jordan may have an advantage if he can tough it out and figure out the weakness to break through with it." Letty answered. " *Gasps* That's it! I know what's going on!" Adena replied. "Can you tell me what you've learned?" Letty asked. "It's a difference between the FF and the 4WD along with the weight difference. The Civic seems to be lighter on the corners and it can instantly take em fast with a zero countersteer drift. Like when Jordan's taking the corners. He's usually steering less to take em fast. I don't know about Faith or whatever but I know that the truck she's driving is gonna have a disadvantage because it's heavier than FK2." Adena answered. "You got that right, but the F-150 may have an advantage somewhere but I know for sure it's mostly gonna have a disadvantage on the straightaways. Like what you said, Jordan clears the corners using less steering with a zero counter drift. Power can be crucial but the weight is the key point to this race. Heavier cars can be hard to accelerate. The lighter the weight, the faster it is to accelerate quickly. So if he can figure this out, he won't have any problems clinching the win." Letty replied. Airfield 73. "Ready to finally take me? Make it to the observatory before sunrise." Faith asked. "I'll be there." Jordan answered. "Go hog wild. I'm staying from the same distance at the other side of the mountain. You better not waste my time." Faith replied. A few minutes later. Marshall Observatory. "Great view, huh? Now, the real fun. Race to the canyons. One on one. You and me." Faith asked. "Get ready to lose to this flashy showman!" Jordan answered. "Jordan, before you roll off the start. I have some advice to tell you." Letty called. "Yeah? What is it?" Jordan asked. "When you're up in a fight against a big modern truck like an F-150. How do you think it would function and how it would handle against an FF car like your civic? I need you to figure that out in your head. Try to find that weakness!" Letty answered. The cars rolled off the starting line into the canyon section. "I forgot to mention... keep a lookout near the canyons. Got two of my favorite jumps there. Well... One of my favorite jumps. The other... let's just say I haven't had a car survive it yet." Faith said. "There's a jump section that leads to a tunnel on the second hairpin after the first one. Unless I'm wrong either one of them is gonna damage their suspension or their fenders." Letty said. "Is there a difference between the suspension of the Civic? I mean what did you and Dom change for the car's settings?" Adena asked. "Apparently, we mostly tuned the car's suspension system such as the springs. You can see, when we stiffened it a bit, it turned out to create a lot of stability is what Jordan did not liked so we tuned the springs soft to help handle those bumps and attack the corners twice as fast as any car. So when he taking those jumps that Faith set up. The car won't have any problems with the soft tuned suspension and it should be able to get better air distance. I don't know about the F-150's handling. I'm gonna assume that she tuned it very low that it's gonna damage it a bit when taking those jumps and bumps." Letty answered. "Almost lost my fender there!" Faith said. "Pretty sure my suspension is trashed!" Jordan wondered. " *gasps* that's it! That's the weakness of the heavyweight truck! I get it now!" Jordan exclaimed in his mind as he spotted the F-150's weakness. "No other way to race!" Faith replied. "Go!" Jordan exclaimed as he quickly counter attacked from the outside and passed Faith. "It's been a while since I met someone who pissed off the Demon Lords so much they got themselves ran out of town." Faith said. "What can I say? We never do anything half-assed." Jordan replied. "That include taking them down, too?" Faith asked. "Absolutely. I haven't had this much fun whipping someone for a long time!" Jordan answered. "Hah! Someone's blood is pumping!" Faith replied. "Alright enough of this, the less I steer, the faster I can clear the corners." Jordan said in his mind as he braked into the corner and used less steering while drifting. "The view's great up there!" Jordan exclaimed. "Don't get used to it!" Faith replied. "Running out of time here, Faith!" Jordan said. "I got all the time in the world, Showman." Faith replied. "The jumps! The goals up ahead! Here we go!" Jordan exclaimed as he pressed both of the nos buttons for maximum boost and it instantly bursted fast onto the jumps. "Hell yeah! Let's do this!" Jordan said in his mind as he approached the last jump and crossed the line. "Wooh, yeah! That was a hell of a race!" Faith replied. "I feel alive! I feel unstoppable! This is off-roading!" Jordan said. "That's the spirit! That's what I like to see! You guys are really gonna pull this off, aren't you?" Faith asked. "We really are." Jordan answered. "Well, good luck, then. We'll be watching. Maybe even pulling a few stunts ourselves. Happy driving, Showman. And remember, if you're not gripping your wheel for dear life, you're not racing." Faith replied. "Amen!" Jordan said. Meanwhile. Fortune Valley Railway Station. "Watch it, watch it, surprise coming up. Watch... and pow!" Jordan said. "No please." I replied. "Well I gotta say. You three managed to pull a win to those guys and now they know we're the fastest team in this region. I'm very proud of you guys." Letty said as she gave a pat to me and a salute to Jordan. Ellie nodded to her as well. "It's over. The Demon Lords controls the best leagues. We own the cops. You'll never get into the Rush. Leave while you can." Mackenzie replied as she walked up to us. "Heh, you're afraid. All that money and power, and you're terrified, it won't be enough to stop me. Also you know what, I don't have friends. I got family." I said. "I will finish this war, Lee. You understand? No matter the cost." Mackenzie replied. "She's a complete asshole Branden. Ignore her, she's only trying to mess with your head." Adena suggested. "See you at the starting line." I said as I walked back to my crew. "Hey Dom, what's up?" Adena called as she took out her phone and answered it. "Now that the party's over, it's time to plan our next move. Come by the airfield when you get the chance." Dom answered. "We'll come by after we finish that rain battle this week. It's said to be on Wednesday but we gotta arrive there for practice tomorrow." Adena replied as she hung up. She saw a familiar person walking up to her. "Huh? Excuse me do you need something?" Adena asked. "Zandara?" Adena wondered. "Hey Adena." Zandara greeted. "Oh my gosh! Hi! It's been a long time!" Adena replied as she gave Zandara a hug. "I know right! It's been months since you've been away after your pregnancy." Zandara said. "Is that your son? He's so cute when he was a baby and now." Zandara asked. "Yeah, that is my son. You can talk to him, but don't touch him because he has a girlfriend." Adena answered. "Do you even remember meeting this old friend of your mother's Branden?" Letty asked. "No I don't recall cause I don't have a memory of myself meeting her friend. I only remember my mother and my father." I answered. "Branden you do seem to be an interesting or I'd say mysterious dude. You have a lot of people in your backstories though." Letty replied. "Well yeah, it's cause I don't remember meeting them as a baby. If I met them now, then I would remember." I said. Zandara walks up to me cuddling while me, Ellie and Letty gave weird looks. "You must be Adena's son. You look so cute... *sighs*" Zandara sighed. "Excuse me. Can you not touch my boyfriend? He's really uncomfortable with you hugging him." Ellie replied. "Are you his girlfriend? I'm sorry if that bothers you." Zandara asked. "Yes, I'm his girlfriend. It's okay, you can talk to him but don't touch or flirt with him." Ellie answered. "What are you doing back in town?" Adena asked. "I obviously heard that your son lost to that annoying Nova prick and you guys got hurt by this Kaylyn jerk. But I am here to throw down with you guys if you want me in." Zandara answered. "You're in. But I need to see how you drive next week. I am Letty Disantos. The leader of this team." Letty replied as she shook hands with Zandara. A day later. 7:45 p.m. Fortune Valley Resort & Casino. "We have a lot of time to practice and there aren't a lot of cars on the road. Go and do 5 runs at 80%. Apparently the rain gauge should read above 45 - 50%. It's rather humid." Letty said. "I don't like that sign of racing in the rain." I replied. "Your objective is to memorize the course and the road. It shouldn't be a problem. Complete the course doing 50 laps before daybreak. Now go." Letty commanded. Ellie and I nodded and got in our cars. "Okay Branden, you're good to go and everything is prepared. We can take off whenever you're ready." Dom said. "Alright Ellie, let's get this show on the road." Jovanna said as she opened up her laptop. We took off and drove to the course.