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yikes.. *tries to catch his breath*

GAAHHH DAMNIT!!!!!!!


ok. more chapters! SOON! lmao.

great stuff man... so suspenseful. keep em coming

i was spoiled. i cliked the last post and saw the line : the 86 lost. why did you do that? i hope he comes back to kick his butt.

How light is that MR2 again? Man, that was an awesome race scene.

And now, we see TEH NU K001 3NG1NE in the 86.

im hopin to read one more before i go to sleep tonight.....(hint hint)

PLEASE!!!!!! LOL

Stay up for an hour and I'll see what I can do....

HECK YEAH!!!
I LOVE YOU! HAHAHA

youre stuff is great! like a good book i cant finish!!!

Ryosuke, even though he had expected the news, felt the wind knocked out of him as he swayed on his suddenly-weak legs. Keisuke took off swearing, while Fumihiro sadly shook his head. The galleries were shocked into silence, unable to comment. When the noise resumed, it was an angry sound, defiant, upset at the loss of the unstoppable 86 from Akina. Nakazato, afraid of the crowd turning against him, turned to Keisuke.
“Do you still want to race?” he asked. Keisuke, unable to trust his voice, simply nodded. If he could defeat Nakazato then he could block the Night Kids from winning against Project D and force a third race, which would minimize the damage.
“I'll meet you at the bottom of the hill,” Nakazato said, driving off to get into position.

“Keisuke, let me come down with you,” Ryosuke said, getting into the FD's passenger seat. They took off downhill at a moderate pace, and the elder Takahashi noticed with a smile that Keisuke's line had changed slightly, reflecting some of Fujiwara's style, melded with Keisuke's aggressive method and his car's superior power and traction. At the bottom of the mountain, Ryosuke nodded to his brother, then walked across to where the AE86 was sitting under a particularly bright light. The scream of tires announced his brother taking off in pursuit of Nakazato, but Ryosuke already knew the outcome of that race. It was the event unfolding under the portable light that he was interested in.

Ryosuke took in the scene with no small amount of dismay. A pool of coolant was spreading under the car, still more drooling out of the slashed radiator hoses. The AE86 had been dragged next to a large tow truck, and there was an engine hoist waiting at the ready. Two mechanics were working under Hayato's watchful gaze, quickly and brutally disconnecting everything to allow the engine to be hauled out. Ryosuke hurried over, shocked at the damage they were doing in slashing electrical connections and wiring, breaking off bolts and stripping nuts.
“Hey! Stop!” he shouted. Hayato put a fist in Ryosuke's chest to stop him.
“Get away,” he warned.
“Don't rip that out like that. How are we supposed to put it back together again?” Ryosuke shouted angrily, rubbing the sore spot on his chest.
“The idea, kid, is that you don't put it back together again. Get it?”
“Now you see why I never raced for you?”

There was a sudden metallic scream as the engine hoist physically ripped the engine from the 86, the car's front end rising as a number of connections were strained to the breaking point. One by one there were various twangs and pops and horrific tearing sounds, and the 86's front end bounced back down on the ground, the engine and most of its exhaust hanging from the engine hoist, bleeding oil and coolant on the ground and spattering over the dented hood and grease-smeared fenders. Ryosuke turned away from the sight and locked eyes with Fujiwara, who was standing ten meters away, his skin a pale white, his eyes stained with tears.

“Fujiwara,” Ryosuke said, taking the younger man by his elbow and leading him to the FC. Takumi quietly sat in the seat and closed his eyes, the physical and emotional exhaustion putting him quickly to sleep. Ryosuke looked at the young man sadly, shook his head, and walked off to Fumihiro.
“Get a truck up here to bring Fujiwara's 86 back to Matsumoto. We've got a lot of work to do, more than I ever estimated. Don't let him know this, Fumihiro, but we may not be able to put the hachi-roku back together again.” Fumihiro turned away and made the call, then waited for the results of the uphill race.

*

“Don't think you can get away from me,” Keisuke said angrily, flooring the FD to catch up. Nakazato's R34 had a lucky stroke in the hairpins and gained a number of car lengths, but there was no way he would let that overbearing fool win. Not after what he did to the 86.
“Next turn, tight inside and grip, second gear, half throttle,” Sayuki rattled off from her pace notes, Takeshi following her words to the letter. The FD began to catch up, drifting uphill in an attempt to shorten the gap.

“He's getting closer,” Nakazato said, “I can feel it. We may not win this, Sayuki,” he apologized, shifting up and rolling smoothly into the throttle. The two cars battled upwards faster and faster, Keisuke gaining slowly.
“Don't worry about him,” Sayuki said, “don't worry. Just drive as best as you can. If we lose, that will force it to a rematch between the downhill races. Fujiwar's car is useless, so we will win by default. It's not the best win, but it will put a hold on Project D, like you wanted,” she said. Nakazato nodded and drove as strongly as he could, utilizing the R34's massive traction and incredible power.

The last corner rapidly approached, a long easy curve followed by an even longer straightaway. Nakazato led through the corner, letting the R34 drift to the outside under full throttle as he barreled down the straightaway. Keisuke floored the FD and watched in shock as the R34 kept pulling away.
“What? How?” he said, shifting up and winding the engine past its rev limit, desperately fighting to pass the GT-R.

*
“Ryosuke, bad news,” Fumihiro said, approaching his leader.
“What's wrong?” Ryosuke replied, turning his eyes away from the shattered hachi-roku.
“Keisuke lost.”

“WHAT?” Ryosuke shouted, spinning around on his heel.
“He lost on the final straight. Nakazato's GT-R had more power and simply out-accelerated him. It was a technical win, but a win. Ryosuke, we've lost. Project D's winning streak has been ended.” Ryosuke sat down suddenly. It was so unexpected. The hachi-roku's engine had been physically ripped out of it, damaging the front suspension, transmission, wiring, and body, and with Keisuke's loss Project D's unstoppable legacy had been destroyed.
“I severely underestimated Nakazato,” Ryosuke said, walking toward the FC.
“What shall we do?” Fumihiro asked desperately.

“There's nothing we can do,” Ryosuke said sadly, “except acknowledge the loss. We'll have to regroup and challenge them again later.” Takahashi opened the door of his FC and sat down inside, glancing at the sleeping Fujiwara before starting the car. Fumihiro watched him drive off, sighed, and returned to the truck with the disemboweled AE86 resting sadly on its back.
“How did my brother take it?” Keisuke asked, stopping his FD in front of the truck.
“Hard,” Fumihiro replied. “He wants to challenge them again in a while, but the 86 was damaged badly when they took out its engine.”
“My brother will figure out a way to challenge them,” Keisuke said confidantly, putting on a brave face even though inside he felt sick to his stomach.

At the peak of Mt. Akina, Nakazato was being held aloft on the shoulders of a roaring crowd, amazed at his victory. Sayuki smiled, watching him bounce along like a human beachball before being deposited back by his GT-R. She leaned over and kissed him.
“Congratulations,” she said. He took her in his arms and kissed her back.
“Thank you,” he said. “I couldn't have done this without you. Even if they don't sing your name, you were the reason we won,” he said, kissing her again.
“Alright you, time to buy me dinner,” she said with a laugh. The two got into the monstrously powerful R34 GT-R and slowly drove down Akina, windows down to listen to the roars and cheers of the galleries.

*

“Fujiwara, wake up,” Ryosuke said, nudging the young man's shoulder.
“Huh? Wha?”
“We're at your house. Get some sleep, Takumi. You did well today. Let me worry about your hachi-roku, alright?”
“I want to challenge him again,” Takumi said angrily. “For what he did I want to crush him.”
“I know you do, and I'm counting on it. We just need to repair the 86.”
“I don't care what I have to drive, Ryosuke, but I want to challenge him and crush him into a pulp,” Takumi growled.

“Fujiwara, go inside and get some sleep. Don't drive tomorrow if you can help it. You're not yourself,” he said. Takumi walked inside and slammed the door behind him before climbing up the stairs.
“How'd you do?” Bunta asked.
“I lost,” Takumi replied, slamming his door shut.

This post has been edited by thx712517 on Oct 22 2007, 07:10 PM

Damn this is TRAGIC

Im addicted man. youre an amazing writer, id love for this to be fifth stage...

im guessin repaired 86 but you added so much damage to it that its seeming like its almost impossible to repair it....

ID LOVE TO SEE TAKUMI BLOW HIS ASS OUT IN THE IMPREZA!!!! OR BUNTA!!!

HELL ACTUALLY ID'T BE NICE TO SEE RYOUSKE AVENGE D IN THE FC!! it would make since because they technically do have THREE RACERS on the team...so D is not totally stopped if they dont beat RYOUSKE!

---something of another bet. like if ryousuke wins they get the engine back, but if he loses he has to go race for Hayato....

just an idea and wishful thinking.

keep up the good work!

OMFG.. This is so epic!! I WAS about to cry from reading this whole chapter. Why must you be so cruel!!

Ho.....ly..... Crap!!! That was some amazing stuff!!! Keep it coming!!! I was counting down the time at work to get back home to read some more!!!

This post has been edited by s13_slider on Oct 22 2007, 08:29 PM

wow absolutely amazing you sure are a talented writer had me on the edge of my seat the entire time truley awesome

Tom

My. . God. .

I really would like to see Takumi crush that guy to a pulp.

I literally cried upon reading this part! I have so much passion for the 86 and just reading such a descriptive peice put the image in my head and it wasnt pretty.

Sure it may sound sad but still! It just shows how emotional you can make your readers! Keep it up!

oh my god. that B#%*$@% damaged the 86 engine bay. i could just hear the sounds of the damage being done when i read that part. i wanna see his mr2 in a junkyard so badly now. hope the 86 can recover . this is some epic story thx

This post has been edited by 207 on Oct 23 2007, 08:22 AM

i agree with 207, except that the MR2 should have the same treatment and get it's heart ripped out! ROAR
plant THAT in Ituski's car xD!

unfortunately as cruel as it was to the 86 and how it would be to hayato's mr2. ryosuke's doesnt have that in him to be that cruel , unless someone tries to do it anyway.

man! i was hopin for another update. i kept checkin on my phone in class for entertainment....but no more midship monster. lol

cant wait for the next one.

im sure thx is cooking up a good story to rematch them

Sorry for the late/short chapter, but long day at work/college. Expect short updates like these until Friday evening, when I'll be able to do a bigger chapter. I probably won't update until very late on Saturday since that's when I'll be racing (autocross, like gymkhana), but it'll be a good chapter since I'll be pumped with adrenaline.

**********

Ryosuke looked out the window at the rising sun and turned back to the work that had occupied him all night long. It had been hours since the 86 had been trucked down the mountain to Matsumoto's garage, but the scene didn't look any better with the new light pouring in through the windows.
“Alright,” he said, picking up a clipboard holding dozens of sheets of paper covered in notes, “let's go over this one more time. Damages,” he read out. Matsumoto sighed, his eyes red from lack of sleep and anger at the treatment of the hachi-roku.

“Hood is broken. Carbon fiber couldn't handle the stress, so it split along the center. Front fenders are bowed out. They were hammered out to make it easier to pull the engine, which in turn bent the engine cradle and knocked the front suspension completely out of alignment as well as warping the core support,” Matsumoto said, running his hands along the twisted sheetmetal.
“When they removed the engine, they didn't bother to unbolt it from the transmission. They cut the mounting tabs with a welder and then broke the rest by raising up the engine and bashing the transmission bellhousing against the firewall until the transmission case broke off. The transmission is trashed, and the firewall is ruined. Ryosuke, with the firewall and the core support destroyed, I don't know if we could ever bring the front end of this car back into shape.”

“It would be difficult,” Ryosuke conceded.
“Not difficult, almost impossible. Basically we would have to rebuild the entire front end of this car, from the front seats to the front bumper. I don't have the abilities to do that, Ryosuke,” Matsumoto said. Takahashi shook his head and flipped over to the next page.
“The cage kept the cabin in shape, for the most part. That would make our job easier if we try to put it back together again. Unfortunately there is still damage to the transmission tunnel from the engine removal, which broke most of the trim around the shifter. Our carbon fiber driveshaft is ruined, no surprise there. It actually pulled the differential apart, dislocating the pinion gear from the ring gear and bending the axles. If we wanted to repair this, we would have to send the car out to have the front end completely rebuilt, then once we got it back here we would have to rebuild the entire suspension, build a new engine, build a new transmission, build a new rear axle, the list goes on. Ryosuke, at what point do we realize that it would be far more cost-effective to purchase a new car?” Matsumoto said, sitting down on the tool bench and rubbing his eyes with his balled-up fists, trying to keep awake.

“That's something we'll consider, trust me. With Project D's funds dwindling, we can't afford to do everything that needs to be done. I just wanted to make sure of the condition of the 86 before I consider alternatives,” Ryosuke explained. “Thank you for your help,” he said, leaving the building and getting into his FC. It was a difficult situation to be in, for sure. With the AE86 almost completely trashed and Project D defeated, Ryosuke felt overwhelmed. His medical textbooks sat at home unopened as he drove around in the FC, trying to clear his mind and think of what to do next.
“Hw can I defeat Hayato?”

*

“Takumi!” Bunta shouted up the stairs. It was late in the afternoon and his son still hadn't come downstairs.
“Takumi!” he roared, walking up the steps.
“What the hell do you want?” Takumi replied, throwing his door open. Bunta felt a rush of anger rise inside him, but shoved it aside and put a hand on his son's shoulder instead.
“I closed the shop. We're going to go eat lunch and talk,” Bunta said, pulling him downstairs and out into the Impreza. Bunta turned the key in the ignition, the boxer turning over quickly and idling smoothly, humming with intense power. Takumi grudgingly fastened his seatbelt moments before the Impreza lunged into motion, rushing down the street toward the closest diner.

Sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee, Takumi slowly started to wake up.
“I knew Hayato when I was younger,” Bunta began, choosing his words carefully. “I met him in one of my races on the street, and he offered me a hand up into the professionals. He was a mechanic on one of the better racing teams, but they were struggling. I offered to help set up their cars, in exchange for a chance to drive one. He made the promise, and I set up the cars. They were dialed in perfectly to my settings, and after they started winning races, he refused to let me drive. When I went to his supervisor, Hayato managed to spin a lie that poisoned my future pro racing career. After that point, I never raced as a professional.”

“No?” Takumi asked, surprised at the sudden honesty.
“Although I wanted to, I was never allowed on a professional course. Friends of mine took sympathy, and I built a business tuning their cars with Masashi, but eventually I settled down and ran the tofu shop. I bought the AE86 shortly before you were born, Takumi, with a specific idea in mind.”
“What was the idea?” he asked, his food and bad mood ignored.
“The idea was to give you training to make you the best downhill racer in Japan, by having you drive every day in all kinds of weather in a low-powered car. Whether you wanted to or not, you learned the best lines to take, and how to use momentum to drive faster. In your hurries to get home and back to bed you learned how to drift, badly at first, but better in a very short amount of time. Kogashiwa Kai, probably one of your most difficult races, learned his abilities by racing in karts. Although his father might disagree, I believe the path I've placed you on has given you greater potential than any others of your age.”

“Thank you,” Takumi replied, and he realized with a shock that he truly meant it. If it weren't for racing, his life would have been a boring existence of working at the gas station or the tofu shop, puttering along in life and wasting away his days doing nothing.
“Why did you choose that car?” Takumi finally asked. Bunta looked up at him and smiled.
“It was cheap,” he said, finishing his meal and leaning back in his seat. “I chose the hachi-roku for a couple of reasons. I needed a lightweight car with an engine in front and its driven wheels in the back. Because it was cheap and small I could afford to drive it all day every day without putting a stress on my wallet, so no matter how well or poor the tofu shop did, you could still practice. Because of its low power engine, you had to learn how to use momentum to be fast, and how to use your brakes. Without ABS you couldn't leave braking up to a computer, which pushed your skills even farther,” Bunta said.

“That seems like a lot to choose a car,” Takumi said with a laugh, the first he had attempted since the night before.
“It was, but it did well. You learned how to drift, and your style became suicidal, rushing into corners without fear, drifting to the utmost limit because you knew nothing else. You have more driving experience than most people five years your senior. Over time I tuned the car up more and more, raising its limits incrementally, and raising yours by the same amount. I knew that the 86 would take you far, but it wouldn't take you all the way.”

“What do you mean?”
“The Trueno has incredible abilities, more so with the new engine and the suspension work your friends were able to do. However, it wasn't possible for that car to carry you all the way. There are limitations to every platform, and with the AE86, you've long surpassed them. Every tuning tweak that has been performed on that car has stalled the inevitable, but the forces acting on the body required a cage to keep it intact. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's time to think about upgrading to a new platform, Takumi,” Bunta said.
“A new platform?”
“Yes. It will depend on your personal preferences. If you wish to continue with FR, there are a number of good platforms coming out that would take you to the next level. If you prefer AWD, like the Impreza, an Evo or STi would do well. I don't think you would enjoy front wheel drive though,” Bunta said with his attempt at a laugh.

“I want to drive the 86,” Takumi said. “I know it's been damaged, but Ryosuke thought he could fix it. If he can fix it, I want to challenge Hayato and get my engine back.”
“It would be difficult to beat him. You lost when the 86 was in perfect condition. From the damage I know he would have inflicted, I wouldn't be surprised if the 86's chassis would never be restored to its full potential.”
“What do you mean?” Takumi asked.
“If there was a lot of front end damage, it would be difficult to rebuild the car and make sure the chassis and body were true. If it were improperly put together again, it's entirely possible that the car would never be able to drive in a straight line,” Bunta replied.

“How can I beat him?” Takumi asked.
“I don't know if you can, but that will be your entrance to the next level if you do,” Bunta replied, getting up from the table and walking out to the Impreza. Takumi followed, getting into the passenger seat while deep in thought.
“You would have to be able to turn faster than the AW11. That's his advantage over you, Takumi. His car is lighter and has more traction due to his midship engine placement, enabling him to turn in faster and brake later. Defeating him with the AE86 would be impossible,” Bunta said, driving the Impreza with his usual charismatic style.

“What could defeat him?”
“Difficult to say. There isn't much lighter, although a later edition of the MR2 might work well. The engine helps him out by being able to rev so high. His weakness is the old chassis. The AW11 is as old as the AE86, and his car lacks a cage. You would need a newer car, or something with more power. An AP1, an FD, an FC, those would be the FR choices, in order of preference. An Evo VI or STi would give you a fighting chance if you decided to use AWD. The best strategy to defeat the high-rev 4A-GE would be torque. You've noticed it yourself, driving your friend's turbocharged hachi-go.” Takumi thought over the list of cars, remembering the violent power of the FD before resting on the powerful FC of his mentor.
“I may have a car,” Takumi said. “If I ask politely.”

damn, i need to know wat he has in mind. an fd, impreza ?? too many to chose from atm . cant wait for next chapter

Gahh. What car??? ZOMG.

I think he is planning on borrowing the FC...

AP1!! AP1!! Or FD. Oh man Takumi would be a complete monster in that car.