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I still think you're drawing the hands too big.

^Don't expect any changes in the hand sizes coming up soon. The ones he's posted so far were drawn long ago (the reason behind the delay in updates is because he needs time to upload them all).

As for the updates, still not bad. But the text needs a little cleaning up. It's a bit hard to read at times.

There's a clip of Jeremy Clarkson sliding a GT-R at the Top Gear test track. I'll post a link to it here when I dig it up.

BTW. Would you mind if I put all the chapters into .zip files to make it easier for the people with slow connections to read it?

This post has been edited by Meteor on May 5 2008, 05:15 AM

To Meteor:

Yeah you could... just post it here for easy access... and say that's for slow connection users use only... to make things fair with that of other high speed connection users.
I had a problem with size that's why i resized it like that... for faster uploading. My internet speed sucks, that's why... sorry if it's partly readable...

About the sliding GT-R... yeah a pro could but a conventional driver wouldn't think of sliding a GT-R without knowing the way how. Top Gear drivers know so much about what they're doing so sliding a GT-R is just cake for them... Special Mention in initial D? Kozou Hoshino...
The knowledge here is pretty basic... and in terms of Basics, GT-Rs are not meant to be drifted, basically but skilled drivers can...

Back to my topic: my story.
Since I don't want to spoil the whole series... I'm just giving out the results of the other battles after this...

Tomo Kitsumoro vs Hiroto Agesoma: Hiroto understeered on a corner, Tomo won
S14K_2 vs FD3S
Tomo Kitsumoro vs Kaede Shimuji & Shuji Hokuge(rally @ USA):Outside drift at uphill corner, Tomo won
Gran Turismo - Grand Canyon
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Lan Evo 5 Rally tuned
Tomo Kitsumoro vs Rikona Shimmitsu(tsukuba circuit wet): GT-R overpowers Altezza, Tomo won
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Altezza TRD tuned 280T

Speed Legend 6 (I made this when I graduated from CSA Grade school, so I have a horrible imagination and unconsciously copied the battle sequences from Initial D battle stage and added a different story line)

Tomo Kitsumoro vs Hiroto Agesoma vs ??? (Akina DH): FD lost control like when Keisuke and Takumi first battled
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs FD3S (keisuke tune, red) vs 350Z ST

Tomo vs Ryuchin Kasatome(Somewhere near Tokyo, got from Togue Max 2 "Big bridge" stage)
Supra understeered on last corner, lost
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Supra JZA80

Natsumi Tanoshiku vs Hikaru Nikizuke(Akina): Z used gutter on one corner near goal
350Z ST vs SW20

Tomo vs Takeshi Musashiro(Akina): Imagine Takumi vs Ryosuke at Akina; first stage
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs FC3S Ryosuke-like tune

Natsumi vs Akari Musashiro(Irohazaka): Imagine Takumi vs Kai; third stage
350Z ST vs Nismo 400R (BCNR33)

Tomo vs Genjuro Densetsu(Irohazaka): Imagine Takumi vs Kyoichi; third stage
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Mitsubishi Eclipse NFSU1 tune

Tomo vs Rukusho (Akina snow): Imagine Takumi vs Miki; third stage
S14K_2 vs Mitsubishi Lancer evo 6 TME

Tomo vs Kyo vs Takeshi vs natsumi vs Genjuro vs Shuji (Arcade Myogi)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs AE86 B-Tune vs FC3S Ryosuke like tune vs 350Z ST vs Bunta Impreza vs Kyoichi evo 3 (red)
finish in order: Kyo-natsumi-tomo-genjuro-shuji-takeshi

Tomo vs natsumi (Akagi)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs 350Z ST

Speed Legend R (now my imagination is running wild, with my original stories)

Shuji Hokuge vs Ayumi Hokuge (training match at Iroha)
GTO Z16A vs FTO DE3A
GTO won.

Tomo vs Natsumi (akina)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs S14K_2
unknown finish, last scene S14 & R34 tied after 4th of 5 consecutive hairpins

Reminiscent White matches:
Kyo Katsumaru vs Tomoko Saeki (arcade usui)
EA11R Cappuccino vs NB8C Roadster
Roadster spun out at C121

Tomo vs Himiko Amatsuka (arcade usui)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs FD3S Mazdaspeed GT-C Tune
FD spun out at C121

Tomo vs Kyoichi Sagara (arcade usui)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Lan Evo 5 GSR
Evo CRASHED at C121: Imagine initial D extra stage; sil80 vs evo4

Tomo vs Kitami Kitamaru(akagi UH)
Kyo EA11R Cappuccino vs RX-8
Rx-8 won on straight

Reia Kitsune+Kyo vs shinosuke Kitamaru(akagi DH)
Civic Spoon EK9 vs FD3S RX-7 Spirit R B-Tune v3
EK won at 3rd of 5th consecutive hairpin section

Tomo vs Sakai Matsumoto (happogahara)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Civic Mugen EK9
GT-R outpowers EK

Takeshi vs Kozumi Shoji(Double Ring - Togue max 2 course, ps1)
FD3S ??? vs EF8 Civic SiR
EF overtakes at Rally section lap 2

Kitami vs Riyoko Takahashi (1/2 mile drag)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs Accord euro R turbo
R34 won... more powerful

Kyo vs Keiya Takashi(Double ring. see Takeshi vs Kozumi)
R32 GT-R V-SPEC II vs Integra Mugen DC2
R32 overpowers Integra lap 1

Tomo vs Kimitaka Matsumae- pro racer (Tokyo R246, GT4)
Natsumi 350Z ST vs Prelude Mugen type S FT
Result? Imagine Takumi vs Tomo tachi 4th stage

Tomo vs Sakura Johina(Akina UH DH)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs R34 GT-R Tommykaira R
fading line at last hairpin of DH run, Nur spec won.

Shinosuke vs Kitami (Shomaru OB-IB)
FD3S RE Amemiya vs RX-8 Mazdaspeed
Rain came, RX8 advantage, FD understeered. RX-8 won

Tomo vs ??? Ghost (Rome-Night, GT2)
Sakura R34 GT-R Tommykaira R vs KPCG10 GT-R 1971 "Hakosuka"
again, imagine Takumi vs Tomo Tachi at straightway.

Noyzee tribe expedition

Kyo vs Abashi Kochiiro (suzuka)
S13 GT300 vs AE111 Trueno Supercharged
Braking contest, AE111 understeers

Kitami vs Hiroya Kagami (suzuka)
Celica GT-FOUR C-ONE vs Mine's Evo 6 GSR
Evo 6 imitates weight shift at final chicane, evo loses control

Shinosuke vs Shimizu Ohyama (suzuka)
FD3s RE Anemiya vs R390 GT-1 Road version
R390 runs out of gas at straight

Tomo vs Daiki Akiyama (round 1, akagi DH)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs NA2 NSX type R concept
Tie!

Tomo vs Daiki (round 2 tsuchisaka UH)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs S2000 GT tune (Joshima tune + carbon stock hood)
S2K outruns GT-R at downhill

Tomo vs Daiki (round 3 wangan tokyo)
R34 GT-R Nur spec vs 350z Z-Tune
R34 GT-R Nur spec splitstreams behind Z and won

Tomo vs 3 ??? Americans (akina DH)
Rikona altezza 280T vs Evo 8, Impreza gdb, Evo 9
Despite distorted settings done by the americans, Altezza won; evo 8 crashed, impreza crashed, evo 9 TOTALED crashed down Akina.

Speed Legend Epilogue 2 - Italy
Shinosuke vs Yoshikuni Kazuma (italian road to countryside)
Kyo FD custom GT tune vs Porsche Cayman S
DNF, tied... stopped at broken bridge

Tomo, Sakura, Kitami vs Keiichi Iwata, Kazuhiko Aizawa, Seiji Tsuchiya (custom course)
R34 GT-R Nur spec, R34 R tune, RX-8 Mazdaspeed custom vs Integra DC5, Mazda FD3S NFSU1 tune, Evo 9
Tomo vs seiji - Tomo won by splitstream
Sakura vs Kazuhiko - FD won by oversteer drift
Kitami vs Keiichi - tie. air resistance factor

Tomo vs Kitana Tioseco(cote d' azur to custom course, 300 km battle)
R34 GT-R Nur spec Z-tune vs Lamborghini Diablo VT Custom
Tomo won but GT-R and Diablo went engine total/breakdown


I'm planning to continue the series in a global state... more non-japan super rivals...

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jun 30 2008, 12:35 AM

I uploaded the file.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BH8MWSRM

Can't check if it works right now. But if you see a file, and it's name is Prolouge.zip and has a size of 11.94 MB, then the upload was succesful

As of now, my story is still on hold.
I'm not ending it just yet.
In my story, there's still the world to face off against.
It's not only limited to the boundaries of Japan.
The last battle entry there (my last post) was held at Italy.
Right now, in my story, they're heading off to America.
The next rival they're going to face off rides a
Chevy Corvette C6 ZR-1...
And one of their members, Kyo, has left the group.
Do you think they'll have the chance on the next "arena"
which is against US muscle and underground tuners/exotics at USA?
Gimme your opinions so that I'll be able to work on a cool plot for this stage.

*just an FYI here, the hero team - Team Japan consists of the following drivers & their cars.
(reference is my previous post line up and my comics)

Tomo - Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec II nur Nismo Z -tune BNR34 blue
Daiki - Nissan fairlady Z 350Z ZS-Tune silver
Sakura - Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec R-tune BNR34 red
Kitami - Mazda SE3P RX-8 type S Mazdaspeed Custom tune red
Shinosuke - Mazda FD3S RX-7 type R RE-Amemiya tune yellow

*non driver team members*
Kasumi Nadeshiko (the Kasumi mentioned in prologue)
Hiei Kamura
Ryusen Kennichi
Tetsuya Kudou (team Mechanic)*

another question for you guys to ponder on... additional to the working plot
For certain conditions that Kitami's RX-8 and Shino's RX-7 cannot compete any further, what substitute cars do you think suits them?
*note No GT-Rs nor Zs can be considered as subs as their cars are already used*
I'll be following the lineup by a game so use these games as references too:
TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED
NFS PRO STREET

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, i really don't. I simply have constructive critisim that could turn your art into a professional piece. With some pro tips too! I want you to know ahead of time these are tips that will help you if you want to take this project further, if not, that's cool. Just read it through, i did write this for you and your art after all.

First off, you need to spend more time on the drawings. The more polished the drawings are, the more people will want to read it. Trust me.

For an example, even if your story is amazing, only about 1/2 of the people possible will read it because of the story (as sad as it is). As an art major (illustration and graphic design), i've seen people beaten senseless because of this (again, sadly, but you NEED a balance of art and story). Drawing wise, you need to work on your value (darks, lights, midtones, etc.) And try to work with pen and ink as much as you can (no not fine tip sharpies, the old school dip pen and ink) because pen and ink allow you to have A LOT of control with line (thickness and quality, it will save you from constantly switching pens and crap and will look much better. Art students and instructors use pen and ink to this day, it's a very common medium, and the only medium used my pro manga artists.

I have been practicing drawing manga since i was 10, that was over 9 years ago. And even though my drawings are really getting good, they never stood a chance until after i took a figure drawing course, once you have seen how the figure's proportions are, it will be much easier. And yes, i know manga is differant from real-world figures, but it will help you with the shoulders, legs, arms, etc. Just the shapes and all (but yours are looking pretty good so far, so don't worry so much about that)

The story is pretty good, but it's very common in car mangas for the main character to have "quick adaptiveness". Look at not only Initial D, but Wangan Midnight for examples. Just a tip.

And if i may, pick up a few perspective books (that way when the "camera" is looking up at the person from the ground (heroic shot) with other people, they'll all seem the same size and placement based off of good horizon lines.) Work with perspective to understand height and distance if the person is X tall, they should be X tall when they are Y far away. Even if your drawings arn't professional, perspective will make them, trust me, bad perspective is the #1 killer. It does take a bit longer to do, but it will look 100x better!

Other than that, it is looking pretty damn good and your choice for how to layout each shot and decide how to present things are good, so be proud of that! I think with some work it could look really professional and great.

And just to clarify. I'm not trying to bash you or your comic, i think you're doing a pretty good job. And yes, i did enjoy reading it! These are simply some tips if you really want to take this project further. If this is something just for fun or a side project or whatever. That's cool man.

Just remember, don't ever rush things, especially your drawings. If you spend a month on one chapter, it will look much better than something done in a week, and you won't stress during and after it. Relax, and enjoy what you're working on!

Best of luck!!! Keep it up man! Hit me up with ANY questions you have, i'd be mroe than happy to help you out!

This post has been edited by Civicnote on May 11 2008, 08:30 PM

Don't worry CivicNote. I respect your opinion as an Art Major student...
And yeah... you're the pro so you know what's best.
Sadly though, I was rushing this as my aim before finishing high school is to finish my series. Somewhat, I fulfilled that aim but not as how I expected it to be...
well thanks a lot for all that 101's...
I'll keep that in mind when I have plans of making another installment of my series - the international kind.
Hey, any suggestions for the next installment's plot?
See my May 9 post about the hero team and the C6 US leader...

Here's a typewritten update on the working and current progress of this story...

As you read before, team Japan was composed of the drivers: Tomo, Daiki, Sakura, Shinosuke and Kitami Kitamaru.

as for team Royal Blood, by the way, this is a new team coming out in my next series..., they're composed of the following:

Team Royal blood is not what you may call a team, compared to all the other teams.
they're not actually team members from the start. Legend has it, that their forefathers are once in leagued with each other. They represent a specific country as their home turf, and they all specialize in almost everything. They are considered Gods in ranks to that of the Medieval times, like king, queen, jack, knight, prince, princess ranks.

The team is composed of...
The King - ??? - Germany
Specialty car: Mercedes SLR McLaren, BMW M5, Porsche 911 Carrera GT4 (that's right! the best of Germany in his hands!!)
The King is once a young monster of the German roads and dominated the world of German Racing. Starting at an early age of 12, during the latter part of the Classical Era, he conquered and specialized in Mountain and circuit competitions around the country. Now, in his late 40's he's still a person to be feared and was never defeated. Rumor has it that in one session of the Classical tournaments, he crashed on a cliffside battle and returned from the dead. No one knows how or why it happened. A mysterious driver indeed.

The Queen - Adriana Eizaguirre - Argentina
Specialty car: Mc Laren F1 GT

The Queen is what I could say, as a female that every man and/or racer dreams off. She's got it all; smarts, beauty, wealth, personality, credentials, all of it. However, though, she wasn't satisfied with her current life. She had a brother who was a famous race car driver at Brazil. He died from a car accident during a race session in a Mercedes CLK GT-R during the Buenos Aries finals. She's vowed not to commit the same mistake that her brother did. eventually, she became the top driver of South America but she still keeps the memory of her brother inside her. She even admitted that Her brother is the reason why she came this far. She was undefeated ever since...

The Jack - Lucas Scott - USA

Specialty car: choice of Corvette Z06 C6
Looking on the outside, there's nothing special about him. A dude who loves break dancing, basketball, r&b and illegal street racing. But when it comes to racing, he's the king of the crop around the US. He has driven four Corvettes in his time: from a C4 to a C6 type. He races for rep. Now that he has it, he still wanted more. His style is so fast that on the streets, the cops couldn't touch him. Most wanted in racing and by the law. Imagine a NFS Most wanted, Carbon and Pro street rep.

The Knight - Nathan Archibal - Canada

Specialty car: Ford GT
He's so fond of the 60's Le Mans that he even joined it during the 90's. He loved the GT40 and bought a vintage model that he intended to practice with until it broke down. Having heard rumors of the latest supercar launched by Ford, he was the very first person to buy one. With the image of the next Le Mans in mind, he became well known around the Vancouver Race track and set an undefeated record that no one was able to defeat. He became a top celebrity by just racing and being part of magazines, yet this didn't hinder his gifted skill in street and professional racing. As a side note, he likes ice skating and anything cold that he could even perform a rally drift with a Midship type 550 hp supercar on ice and snow like it was nothing!!

The Princess - Kitana Tioseco - Italy/China
Specialty car: Lamborghini Gallardo and Lamborghini Diablo VT (GTR Spec)

She's part EMO as her team mates would say by just looking at her outfit. She denies that fact a lot but some say that her car too speaks of it. She doesn't mind that fact about her life. She also likes Guitars and music that makes the guitar the leading instrument in a song. She also owns her private, custom made race track at Italy. She has somewhat a liking for The Prince, Daiki Akiyama, who inspired her to become the best in all of street and pro racing. She even custom built her own Lamborghini and Merged the Murcielago and Gallardo into one car, what she calls the Murciel-lardo. She's pretty proud of her skill as it was all thanks to Daiki. Her specialty is to drift her Lamborghini in a 35 degree angle for one kilometer on the straightway She's just 16 but she's as skilled as a middle aged veteran! Young, but inspiring! She's also the Team Leader of an Anglo-Japanese street team in Italy known as The Stallions and Torros.


The Prince - Daiki Akiyama - Japan

Specialty car: Nissan Fairlady Z Nismo Z-tune
In Japan, he's the youngest driver ever to conquer the racing world. Being considered a legend on the Chiba region, he was given the title The Prince of all racing divisions. He has never lost a battle on the Northern Kantou. Rich? yes; his family even owns the Akiyama Racing School located at Chiba and Tokyo respectively. He was once the Leader of Team Midnight Masters - a well known Semi-professional team composed of Professional champions, contenders, and test drivers of famous Tuners specializing at the Suzuka Circuit. Daiki was just a newbie and defeated all the members of the Masters on a one-vs-all assault. A gifted driver, known around the whole country. He recently used his NSX NA2 and S2000 AP1 GT on a battle and tied with a common street racer known by the nickname Gunma's 34.

The Joker - ??? - ???

Specialty car: Nissan Skyline GT-R R35 V-spec
Very minimal information is known about this driver. No one even knew if the person is male or female; but definitely not gay. No one knew which country he/she is from. No one knows how old is this person. All people know about this guy is that he/she drives a black Nissan R35 Skyline... His/her style looks as if it's a combination of all the skills of the members of the Royal Blood team. He/she cares less of the competition. His/her aim is to fight the best drivers outside of the Royal Circle... His/her intentions are as unknown as his identity. A driver riding in the shadows.

Anyway, here's the first chapter of my story. <I don't know why or how It got deleted along with chapter 2 but, here goes nothing. hope I remember 'em. There'll be a couple of changes, though>

Speed Legend S

Episode 1 - The New Battlefield
Chapter 1 - The start of a new journey

Daiki raced for the International Tournament, representing team Japan.
He placed third all in all at Cote d' Azur.
No one ever knew that this group of youths would be able to make it this far.
The next day is upon them and they're all ready to leave.
A couple of strollers are on one area.
The rest of the Team is merely talking with each other about anything under the sun.
Tomo and Daiki came out of the reception hall with the tickets.
Hiei and Ryusen are getting snacks for their trip to the US.
The two girls, Kasumi and Sakura went to the rest room to freshen up.
The rest of the team are simply, well... talking.
Outside of the airport, there was a girl standing in agony, looking at the skies; listening to the sound of planes taking off and the PA calling out the next plane to depart.
It was Kitana, who was known as the European Matador.
The reason for her gloomy state of mind is that she and daiki have to part ways again. poor girl.
"Tell me Kitana," Yoshikuni Kazuma, her companion asked. "Why are you acting so emo again."
Hearing the word Emo, Kitana's gloomy state is now all fired up in rage.
"Say EMO one more time and I'm forced to push your PORSCHE CAYMAN S off the broken bridge like it was supposed to happen!!"
She faced the sky again and wondered...
"Oh, Daiki..."
She suddenly sprinted towards the main door of the airport.
Inside, Daiki is taking roll call.
"Tomo?"
"here!"
"Kitami? Shinosuke?"
"Yup!"
"Yoh!"
"Shimizu?"
"Hey"
"Hiroya"
"Here!!"
"Tetsuya? Hiei? Ryusen?"
"Here!"
"Here!"
"Present!!"
"Uh, Hiei, that's so childish of you! We're not in school anymore." Ryusen reacted.
"I know. I just felt like it." Hiei said. Everybody laughed afterwards.
"And the Girls?" Daiki asked?
"They went to the rest room to freshen up..."
"Sorry we're late." Kasumi said across the hall with Sakura behind her.
"and... here they are!!" Tomo said to Daiki in excitement.
"Good. Let's board then." Daiki said, pointing towards the door.
"I get dibs on the window seat!!" Hiei said as he ran towards the door.
"Not unless I beat you there!!" Ryusen answered as he chased after hiei.
"No fair guys!! It's my turn!" Tomo shouted. He ran towards them also.
"Those guys will never grow up..." Sakura chuckled as she walked towards the door with Kasumi.
The rest followed with Daiki being the last to board.
"Daiki wait!!" A voice that echoed throughout the hall. It caught the attention of everyone in the hall. It was Kitana, who was catching her breath.
"Kitana..." Daiki whispered.
Tomo held Daiki in the shoulder and nodded.
Daiki went to Kitana. Her atmosphere suddenly changed.
"Are you sure you're leaving again?"
'Sadly, yeah. I know how much you missed me..." Daiki said as Kitana blushed. "But just so you know... I'll come back. promise. We will see each other again. Just remember that."

With a smile, Kitana replied in a happy tone "yeah."
"Kitami hold up!!" This time, Kazuma called out to Kitami.
"What is it, man?"
"I got some information that will help you out. It'll really help out those two over there."
"Daiki and Kitana?"
"Yeah. Listen, and Listen well..."
Kazuma whispered to Kitami everything he needs to know about The Prince and the European Matador.
Silence covered up the whole area. The wind whooshed passed by the plane.
"you serious!!"
"I am. now go. ponder over it during your flight, not here. see ya."
kazuma left with a satisfied look.
Kitami re-boarded the plane.
"well, looks like we're off now." Daiki said.
"I guess... but don't worry. I'll wait for your return." Kitana replied.
"see you soon, Kitana." Daiki said as he pats Kitana's head like a cat.
"Stop that." Kitana reacted while fixing her hair. "I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a grown woman."
"yeah, yeah..."
Daiki boarded the plane.
Kitana watched as the plane took off.
Team Japan is now heading for America.

Chapter 2 - Pondering over prevailing thoughts
This chapter is unusually short for I forgot the original contents of this. forgive me

Everyone was asleep. It's already 3:00 a.m. All but Kitami who was still wondering over his conversation with Kazuma...

"Then... what is this team that Kazuma is talking about? and how are Daiki and Kitana connected to this at all?" Kitami wondered while staring at the moonlight flashing through his window...


*note, all these cars are just mere reference on what they drive. In my manga or comics, the modifications are custom.*

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Oct 13 2008, 09:24 PM

The royal/face cards deal has been done to death a million times already. Originality? Why not give them codenames like the names of certain animals or elements or something, that correspond to their skill or abilities, instead of something so horribly cliche?

Also, those are some extremely strange car choices for people who are apparently the gods of the touge in their area. I hardly think any smart racer would choose a McLaren F1 or even a Corvette for touge. A Corvette spins so easily, it would be a terrible choice.

Chapter 3 - The Most Wanted

On the streets of Chicago, a huge roaring engine has been plaguing the streets.
This commonly happens every late evening from 12:30 a.m. At one block, street racers gather at the brink of the night.
Everyone was having a prime time of their lives. As they showoff their break dance moves, tuned sports cars with their big-ass speakers in the trunk, neon lights, women in tight fit clothes, it was a loud party.
Guys from the area gather around for trading info, skills, and parts.
It's like an underground bar and store there. The commoners try to come to that spot; but as they do arrive... to their dismay, no one is around anymore.
Every weekend this happens. The locals can't even get rest and have to resort in calling out the cops.
Those who were disturbing the peace really panicked when they hear sirens coming close by. Out of the crowd, there was just one driver who got the car, the skills, and the balls on taking out the police.
He drives a flashy Chevrolet Corvette Z06. His name? It's Lucas Scott.
Years back, he was known for being a top professional Basketball player in a college aiming to go for the NBA. Suddenly, he disappeared from that light and is now a different person all in all.
There was this one moment when he intentionally let the cops come after him in full force and loses them in one swoop after passing 8 corners. There were battle scars all over his Corvette's front bumper. Definitely a driver who never cares for his car's needs whenever he drives recklessly.
Even in racing he was undefeated. Climbing up the ranks in a short amount of time, he was crowned a god in that area. From building up rep, he also destroys rep; driver after driver.
The Old Lucas Scott was completely lost; and he is now what we see. Showing off in a bad boy look with his Metallic Blue Corvette, he cruises around town every night pounding on a street racer who dares to challenge him.
Back to the present...
He drives around Chinatown causing acoustic havoc. Only his peers adore his annoyance.
His Corvette's loud engine roar, coming out of the 7.0 L LS7 V8 comes and goes around the state. It disappears through the night. What he was doing is what he calls a performance run only.

"There's no one for me to race against... everyone here I've already beaten... this is really boring. I'm heading out back."
He drives to his mansion in the hills as the LS7 V8's tone fades into the night with disappointment...

Chapter 4 - Moment of Arrival

The plane is on the roadway in the California airport. It's already 6:00 pm. Most of the group is now awake. All except for Daiki.
He was dreaming of a past; a faraway past. He's dreaming of him in a throne, wearing a royal cape & a crown. Next to him was Kitana wearing the same cape but in a tiara. Next to her are 4 other people - 3 guys and a girl; all on their late 20's or 30's or so. However their faces are covered in the shadows. Before Daiki could even get a glimpse of who they were, a light suddenly blinded him. Before he knew it, somebody is calling out his name...
"Daiki...Daiki!"
"Wake up!..."
Daiki was as quiet as a bird.
"Akiyama! Wake up, we're here!!"
Somebody slapped him to consciousness.
"Ouch. what was that for? Who did that?" Daiki said in pain.
" I did it." Hiroya said in an ironic accent. "We're here already. C'mon!" Hiroya left facing the door.
Tomo was waiting in the reception hall. Shinosuke was with him; so was Kitami, Hiei, Ryusen, and Tetsuya.
Kasumi and Sakura went to the restroom.
"Hey, here comes Daiki, Shimizu and Hiroya" Hiei said.
"Is everyone here?"
"Sakura and Kasumi are at the restroom" Tomo replied. "They'll be back in a while."
"So, where's the venue?" Shinosuke said.
"Infenion raceway. There will be 2 rounds. One is the Sports car course, the other is the stock car course." Shimizu said in detail.
"But that'll be 2 weeks from now. We have time to get to know the course. We'll be going to the venue first thing tomorrow afternoon." Hiroya said.
"So, brother; you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kitami said facing Shinosuke.
"Girl Scouting? You got it!!" Shinosuke replied in excitement. The 2 brothers said that they'll text if they're to meet up again.
"What now? we got a day to spare so where to Ryusen-san?" Hiei asked.
"To the Arcade!! Tomo you joining?"
"Nah. I need to go somewhere." Tomo said.
"aww... too bad. Oh well... text me for updates 'kay? We're off." Ryusen left while Hiei followed.
"Well, this is unusual... bit by bit everyone's parting..." Tomo said with a curious look on his face.
"Waddya mean, Tomo? i'm still here" Kasumi said as she gave Tomo a stern look on her face.
"and Sakura?"
"Well... She and Tetsuya went to a tuner center to check on her GT-R34 to see if it's still in top condition. 'You could never be careful' she said."
"And Daiki?"
"He and the other 2 went to Infenion to check it out. So they'll be back longer than we expected."
"I see... wanna check in first? i'm starving. I wanna see how the hotel's delicacies taste like."
"Is this for your further training as a chef or just to stuff yourself with food like usual."
"Oh, come on, Kasumi. Am I that much of a glutton to you? That hurts you know!"
The two laughed and went to the cargo bay to pick up the GT-R. They look like a sweet couple walking towards their car.
They're now on the main road going past the golden gate bridge - heading towards an unusual city. The only thing unusual about it is that it sort of looks like Las Vegas with most of the replicas of most of the wonders.
"Weird. This looks like one of my Video games when I was young... Sort of like Palmont..."
"Palmont?" Kasumi said with a confused look.
"Nothing. It's game talk. You might not understand it."
The Skyline is going in a normal state likewise other cars in the vicinity.
Suddenly, Tomo decided to go to a hault.
His car was standing on a hill. The 2 stepped off the car.
"This place sure brings back memories of home, don't you think?"
"Somewhat... Say Tomo... I noticed just now... do you have any sibings?"
"I dont. You?"
"none that I could think of."
"But what's with the sudden topic Kasumi?"
"I'm just wondering that's all..."
"Since you brought that up... my turn to ask you: How's your family? I never bothered to ask you before, since it's personal information; and you brought up the topic of family just now..."

"I never had a family. They all died in a fire. I was a mere babe then. My guardian was the one who brought me up. He left me all of a sudden when I was old enough to understand the world and how to blend in and survive. How about you Tomo? How's YOUR family?"
"I had the same fate as you; except for the dying part. They're somewhere they didn't tell me. But every now and then, they call and send me messages - making me think that they're okay. I've been living on my own now and my heart says that I don't need to worry about them anymore since they said so. I don't want to interfere anymore as doing so would..." Kasumi interrupted saying "You're lucky. Lucky that you have one. Though you're independednt, you know that they're okay, looking out for you. Unlike me living on my own most of the time. I really never experience what it means to be loved by a family member."
"Don't you think... you're experiencing it already, Kasumi?"
"Tomo..." Tomo was pointing at himself as he said: "You got me. You could consider me YOUR family, right?"
Kasumi smiled and just stared at Tomo's eyes... "Silly", she said.
"C'mon. Let's check in at the designated Hotel."
The two board the car and drove off, not knowing somebody was there watching the car drive off...



Chapter 5 - Dawn of Encounter

There were minimal cars present in the City at this hour. Tomo decided to floor it. Kasumi held tight on to her arm handle. The GT-R's RB26DETT engine screams around the region. The tires were squealing all around. The muffler back-fired when Tomo switched t gear 4. All 530 horsepower within the GT-R's RB engine are as active as Tomo's battle against Kitan's Diablo SV a at Kitana's Circuit, Italy. Behind them was a LancerEvolution 9 all covered in Vinyls and stickers. It passes by the GT-R and blocks it's way forcing Tomo to go to a stop. Something came out of Tomo's GPS system - "Challenge" it says.

Being new around town, Tomo wants to see how the local drivers fare; so he accepts the Challenge. The Evo 9 driver wants Tomo to select a goal. He selects one 3 miles away. From that post, they took off! The sqealing of the tires at 8000 rpm screams around the area where they met. The Evo 9 is leading with Tomo close to its tail. Slowly, the GT-R catches up; he was applying a split stream tactic, the same tactic he used when he fought Daiki...

"Kasumi... I want you to hang tight. I'll try to give my all in this mock battle. So don't be afraid, okay?" Saying that, Tomo's foot went deeper, pressing the Accelerator even further. A corner was up; the two are approaching it already at maximum speed. Tomo grabs hold of the e-brake and attemps to bring the GT-R to a drift. The Evolution driver plans to nail the apex; but to his dismay, understeer triggered. The Evolution is veering towards the outside. The GT-R's nose is in front. Once the Evo driver downshifts to gain acceleration, The GT-R overtook...

"Is this how the locals drive?" Tomo wondered. His GT-R punched to 5th and outruns the Evolution. One more corner to go before the battle ends. The GT-R is now reaching 156 mph and the Evolution right behind him - around 6 cars away... Tomo won the mock battle without much effort. He decelerates and waits for the Evo driver. "That was great Tomo. It's your first battle here, still you managed to beat him hands down. Good job!" Kasumi said with much excitement.
Little did the 2 know, police are now contacting each other about street racers illegally racing on the streets.

Clearing a corner, he caught the attention of one of the cop cars.
"Suspect has been spotted. I repeat, Suspect has been spotted." the Police driver said to the intercom...
"It's weird, Kasumi... how come my car is picking up the conversation of the Police?"
"I'd rather not talk about that now, Tomo", Kasumi said in a pale voice. "You'd better get out of here. Looks like he wouldn't entertain any questions you'd draw at him. Let's get out of here!"
The GT-R accelerates even further and is being followed by the Police unit. A little while longer, 4 more police units are chasing after TOmo. He needs to getaway. Beside the GT-R, another Sports car is following Tomo's speed; neck to neck with his GT-R. It was a Metallic Red Viper SRT10... It removes one of the poles from the arc and disables ALL the cop cars. They were no longer being chased. They escaped.
"Thank goodness..." Kasumi said with a sigh...
"You're right Kasumi. I better thank that... guy?" The mysterious Viper driver vanished once more. Tomo was dumbfounded. He waits for evrything to cool down before he heads his way. But that Viper was all that is occupying Tomo's mind for a moment.


Chapter 6 - A new Sakura Blossoms

Tomo and Kasumi have checked in. Their room was in the 12th floor of a 20-floor 5-star hotel. Kasumi was so excited about the layout of the room. It was good for two. She then jumped on one of the beds and started frolicking and bouncing like a little girl. Tomo on the other hand has his mind preoccupied about the Red Viper that helped them a while ago.
"Who was that guy?" Tomo murmured...
"Hmm? Did you say something Tomo?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just talking to myself."
"I see..." Kasumi said softly as her hand reaches for the pillow closest to her.
As Tomo locks the door. Foom! The pillow landed on Tomo's head.
"Gotcha there! Not so fast with your reflexes now are you?" Kasumi laughed seeing Tomo's head completely covered in feathers.
"So... you want to play games huh?" Tomo murmured with a grin on his face.
He took the pillow slowly and with a quick reflex of his feet he charges towards Kasumi as he shouts out "LET'S PLAY THEN!!"
"Ahh! Tomo, that's my ticklish side!! You ask for it!"
The two played around, hitting each other with the pillow they're holding tight. Tomo hits Kasumi; she hits him back. The two laughed as they smacked each other senselessly until they both ran out of breath.
"That was fun" Kasumi said as she catches her breath.
"Once in a while, yeah..." Tomo replied. "It's really fun... to be..."
"to be what?"
"to be doing stuff with you, Kasumi..."
Kasumi blushed there for a sec. "Oh, come on, you're just bluffing", she said as she hits Tomo back with the pillow and cost him his balance.
"What was that for?"
"Oh nothing..." Kasumi said with her face looking at the window, pretending to ignore Tomo. "It's just that... it's fun also... to be doing stuff with you, Tomo."
"Copycat!!" Then, Tomo huddles on Kasumi like an excited dog, let's say a golden retriever, pouncing on its owner.
Heartbeats then pounded.
Tomo and Kasumi just stared at each other for a long time as the heartbeats began pounding even louder than before...
Kasumi then pushes Tomo away causing him, again to lose balance and fall of the bed. Careless oaf.
The door knocks and Tomo decided to open the door.
Tetsuya opened the door with great force as soon as Tomo unlocked the door.
"Not fair, you two! You had a party, and you didn't even bother to invite me!"
"this is nothing Tetsu-chan." Kasumi answered in embarrassment.
"So, where's Sakura-san?"
"Her? wait." Tetsuya went and called Sakura to come in.
"Sakura?... Is that you, girl?" Kasumi asked in excitement

Sakura had a new haircut; in turn made heads turn as she goes to the room.
Her hair is now until the end of her neck with the ends curling back. It really suits her, and made her even prettier.
Even Tomo can't help turn his head around too.
"Hey, Tetsuya who's your friend?" Tomo said.
"Are you blind man? that is Sakura!" Tetsuya said.
"Sa...Sa...SAKURA!?" Tomo's whole body froze up from the shock!
"So Tomo... how do I look?"
"You look fantastic!" Kasumi butted in.
"Thanks."
"But that's not all that changed." Tetsuya said.
"What else is there?" Tomo asked after coming out of the shock.
"Come with us to the entrance." Sakura said, leading the group.
As they went down the elevator, from the 12th floor all the way to the ground floor, something was waiting to be seen.
"Is that...?" Tomo said.
"No way...!" Kasumi added in shock.

Chapter 7 - Rites of passage

Tomo, Sakura, Kasumi, and Tetsuya went to the Canyons to test run Sakura's newly updated GT-R34. From below, you could hear the tires squealing and sliding from the top...

"My GT-R is driving unusually different than before... It's like... even wilder..." Sakura murmured to herself as she switches to gear 4. Flames came out of the exhaust as she did so. In the base, the other 3 are waiting. Kasumi is holding a stop watch while Tomo and Tetsuya are discussing about the GT-R...
"Her car is more powerful than before. Joining the mods I placed on yours and her previous mods when she raced you." Tetsuya said.
"Really now... so her car is strong enough to kick my ass, right?" Tomo wondered.
"That's right. and since she could handle drifts as well as you do, I turned off her ATTESA ET-S so that she'll have more specific control over her car."
"If she nails this then... YOU DID WHAT!?"Tomo suddenly raised his voice while nabbing Tetsuya by the collar.
"Alright! I know it's dangerous. I'll stop her." Tetsuya panicked.
"Sakura! sakura!..." a voice coming out of the earpiece Sakura was wearing; it's like just a piece of a headset.
"What is it Tetsuya chan?", Sakura wondered.
"Come here quickly! but slowly." Tetsuya said through the little ear piece.
The GT-R slowly went to a halt once it reached the base.
Tetsuya re-activated the ATTESA ET-S.
"So the ET-S system is off? No wonder my car is acting drifty-like." Sakura said in relief.
"Good thing Tetsuya is DUMB enough to say that to my face. I'll really wonder if something bad happens to you because of that DUMB decision." Tomo said as he said 'dumb' while facing Tetsuya with an ironic face.
"Hey!!" Tetsuya replied.
"C'mon guys don't fight here just because of my car." Sakura said as she breaks up the two.
In the corner, Kasumi was in a gloomy state, sulking in the corner next to Tomo's GT-R.
"I really feel as if I'm ignored. What am I doing here in the first place?" Kasumi wondered to herself.
Tomo saw Kasumi and approached her to make her feel better.
"There. there. there." You're still in this. Don't think you're left out." He said.
Kasumi hugged him for relief, which in turned make Sakura show off a blazing aura of rage.
"Not infront of my eyes you would!!" Sakura said to herself directing it to Kasumi.
"There. It's reprogrammed." Tetsuya said as he puts the hood of the GT-R down.
As he was about to tell Sakura it's okay, he saw her flaming aura and he backed up in fear...
Later on, Tomo's cell phone rang. It was a call from Daiki.
"Hello?"
"Kitsumoro, where you at?"
"At the Canyons with Kasumi, Sakura and Tetsuya."
"I see. Well, I just called to confirm that we're having a meeting tomorrow at the dining room at the hotel."
"Alright. What's it about?"
"We need time to know who'll race for us in the sports car and stock car course rounds."
"So I pass this on to the other team members?"
"You betcha! See you tomorrow at the hall." Daiki hung up. Tomo did too and suddenly talked to himself.
"hmm... if we're talking about class then... which of us then would race for the stock car course and which of us would fall under the sports car course class?
It is a tough decision to make. But what bugs me the most is... how would the decision making take the form of? What does Daiki have in store"
Tomo looks at Sakura.
"Man, she's prettier than before... FOCUS MAN!!" Tomo said talking to himself "With Tetsuya's upgrades, she's more stronger. How would she fare against me then, that's the question..."
"C'mon guys let's head back." Kasumi said in excitement. "Let's head back. It's getting late. And Sakura, sorry about that."
"Sure. Sorry I got fired up too for some unknown reason..."
The two girls just laughed.
Tetsuya's wondering what on earth happened between those two girls.
Tomo boarded his GT-R, Tetsuya boarded with him.
Sakura boarded her GT-R, Kasumi boarded with her.
then, those 2 cars headed back for the hotel.


Episode 2 - Rise and Fall
Chapter 8 - The next top road warrior

The next day has arrived. Tomo was waiting at the reception hall, reading a paper. He was just about to text Daiki where he is when Daiki suddenly appeared out of nowhere infront of him.
"'Sup!"
"Hey, Daiki. So... I have a question. how do you plan to decide who'll race."
"Well... since the race is next week and I checked the course already, I've formulated a plan on deciding who'll battle."
"And?"
"Since I raced last time at Cote d' Azur, we need to pick someone else for the job."
"And?" Tomo's getting irritated bit by bit as Daiki is not getting into the point.
"There's you, Sakura, Kitami, Shinosuke, Shimizu... we still need one more for this"
Tomo breaks up Daiki's statement, throwing his arms down on the table and shouts at the top of his lungs
"JUST TELL ME HOW!!"
"Easy, dude. Easy. It will be in a form of elimination. Like those fighting rounds."
"oh..." Tomo sat down knowing how the battle would go.
"However, we need one more driver who will be qualified to battle since Hiroya went back to Japan to get some parts for the race itself a week from now. Anybody in mind, Tomo?"
"We could ask Hiei or Ryusen to..."
"ARE YOU MAD!? THEY'RE YOUR PIT CREW! I NEVER EVEN SAW THEM RACE BEFORE!!"
"I noticed something about Hiei that will work..."
"If you're f***ing with me Tomo... then don't"
"Trust me, Daiki... it'll work."
Tomo takes out his cell phone. He dials Hiei's number.
Daiki takes his out and dials some number.

(later... 11:25 a.m., Canyons)
Tomo called Hiei and Ryusen out to meet up at the Canyons.
Once there, Tomo was waiting with his GT-R, Daiki was there with a borrowed car. A Mazda Roadster NB6C and a Volkswagen R32. Hiei and Ryusen came up with a cab and got off.
"Thanks man." Ryusen slammed the door of the cab shut and it drove down.
"Now, what's this about Tomo?"
"Well... I'm planning Hiei to race in the eliminations" Tomo replied.
Hiei was in shock. "M...me?"
"Yup. you took up private driving lessons from your mom, right?"
In a corner, Daiki was looking worried.
"Yah. I did." hiei Replied "In fact, I PAY her to do so."
Tomo and Ryusen were in shock "damn..."
"Ahem... anyway, Hiei. take your pick. Roadster? or R32?"
Hiei points towards the Roadster.
"Fine choice." Daiki said. "Let's get this on, Tomo (before I hurl up with this stupid idea of yours)"
The canyon run reminds us of Irohazaka as the first section consists of 6 hairpins close to each other. Tomo blindfolds hiei, who's all set on the wheel of the Roadster.
Daiki sets up in the R32.
The race is a runner, chaser fashion. The R32 infront, the Roadster behind.
Ryusen stuck something behind the Volkswagen. Something I don't want to say at this moment and is awkward...
"Alright guys, I'll give the 5 counts. Ryusen, remove the blindfold after the 5 counts. We'll see how Hiei will fare against Daiki. If he sticks for at least 20% of the race, passing Daiki or not, he's in."
"Alright! Let's do this."
5-4-3-2-1-GO!!
The R32 Accelerates real quick thanks to the 4WD system. Ryusen removes the blindfold. Hiei saw the sticker behind the R32 and dashes away like a panther coming after a wilderbeast!
"To prove Tomo's wrong, I'll outrun his friend from the first corner!!"
The Volks drifts through the first hairpin nailing the apex.
Hiei stays on the inner lane without losing speed, although his move is entry oriented, his roadster drifts through the exit, in a fishtail move.
"P...P...G...Z!!" Hiei chants. "I'M COMING ME DARLINGS!!"
By the second hairpin, Daiki exits in a grip fashion...
"What the!?"
The roadster is now behind the R32. The roadster's BP-Z3 engine revs all the way to the red zone!!

"I'M COMING BLOSSOM! BUTTERCUP!! BUBBLES!!!" Hiei shouts.
"What in the world is this? It's like Tomo when he split streamed behind me before at Japan..."
Atop...
'Do you think it'll work Ryusen?"
"With hiei behind? AND that sticker? Of course it will. You know hiei."
'Yeah, you're right. Who am I to doubt his... <gulp> Obsession...?"
On the radio, there's a panicking voice coming out of it.
"Tom...o.... I get... your.... groove.... stop this race....!!"
Tomo and Ryusen went to the spot where Hiei and Daiki stopped.
" I told you Hiei was qualified." Tomo said.
"Okay, Kitsumoro. I believe you." Daiki replied.
"MINE! MINE!!"
"Hiei my love! I knew you could do it!! Hug meeeee!!"
"HEY! THAT CAR'S JUST A RENTAL!!" Daiki shouted.
Hiei was *simply* removing the sticker off the Volks R32.
Ryusen was holding hiei in the stomach area as Daiki, for the first time, acted childlike and tried to remove Hiei's hands off the R32 that are as tight as clamps to an iron stand.
"So it's decided, then. Hiei will be the 6th driver, right daiki?"
"Okay. Let's head to Infenion tomorrow afternoon."
"I'll tell everyone?"
"yes. Everyone."
Tomo started sending text messages to everyone in the group.

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jun 21 2008, 11:09 PM

Chapter 9 - Upon Angel's wings

Everyone has gathered at Infenion Raceway. The place is coated in a large stream of heat. It's like being in a sauna. All of the drivers cars are now there in this order:
Tomo's GT-R34 V-spec 2 Nur, Mine's-Nismo Z tune combination
Sakura's *newly upgraded* GT-R34 V-spec I, Tommykaira-Nismo R tune combination
Kitami's Mazdaspeed RX-8 with GT wing
Shinosuke's RE Amemiya RX-7 basic tune
A Red Mazda Roadster NB6C
and Shimizu's Nissan R390 Road car.
Everyone is sitting in a tent with a glass of lemonade, each in their left hands.
"So, who do you think will race first?"
"I don't know. But what matters is... who will win?"
"We won't know until we see it for ourselves."
Tetsuya is checking each of the cars if they're in top form.
"Okay guys, the table is set. See your opponents."

"Hiei huh?" Tomo murmured to himself.
"Yo...YOU AGAIN?!?" Shimizu and Shinosuke shouted out together
Kitami approaches Sakura and decides to shake hands.
"Although we're team mates, let's shake on it."
"Let's give it our all, Kitami san." Sakura shook Kitami's hand.
Daiki was in command of the mock contest taking place.
"Okay. Let's begin. Tomo, Hiei. You're up first."
Hiei was quiet as he approached Daiki.
Tomo was wondering why Hiei was like that.
"I...I..."
"Yes, Hiei? Speak up?"
"I'D LIKE TO DROP THE RACE!!"
Everyone was in shock...
"WWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!!??????"
"That's right, folks! I'm dropping this battle as I am NO MATCH against Tomo when it comes to racing."
Tomo was acting arrogant and proudlike.
"You betcha!" he said.
"But I can kick his ass when it comes to PC, console and board games! Right, Tomo?"
"You betch.... WHAT!?"
"Easy, friends. easy." Ryusen said as he held Hiei and Tomo's shoulders tightly.
"Okay Ryusen..." Tomo bleated in pain.
"He's right. Now let go of us before we BOTH die as you're cutting off our blood circulation!!"
"Whoops. Sorry."
Daiki was still in a state of shock; so were the others.
"Anyway... as Tomo immediately goes to the semi finals... let's go with the next set."
"Looks like it's us again, huh?" Shinosuke noted.
"Like we first met?" Shimizu replied.
"Let's do this. Check also if your tank is full."
"Oh it is. I'm not as careless as before. Get ready, Shino. Despite your GT300 tuned FD, it'll lose this time to my R390. I did a bit of upgrades..."
"Well... let's let the road decide."
"Alright guys, enough with the intimidating chit chat. Let's start already." Daiki said in an irritated tone.
The cars are in a rolling start. The R390 in front, and the FD behind him.


*note, these images are "rented" from other sites, as a reference on what the cars are and look like *
"I really wanted to fight Sakura, not because she's a babe, but because of her GT-R"
Shinosuke said to himself.
Everybody is cheering for whoever they think would win.
"Shino! Shino!"
"Shi-mi-zu! Shi-mi-zu!"
Shimizu's foot is ready to pounce on the gas as he's about to pass the checkered line.

The R390 passed it. Shimizu quickly presses on the accelerator.
Shinosuke followed along.
"Shinosuke's only fighting chance here is the RE Amemiya tuned 13B Rotary engine" Kitami narrated to the other team members.
"So how much power is it maximizing?" Ryusen asked.
"A mere 350 hp. Weird though. After our expedition with team Midnight Masters months back, he detuned his FD and removed the turbo."
"He removed it?" Tomo pondered.
"Yup. He says that 'the turbo is too much for my FD. It's better if my car reacts like an NA for more rev control." Kitami followed up.
"Rev control? As in concentrate more on the highest possible rpm it could attain and have better cornering control?"Tomo answered,
"Right. It's basics actually. Infenion, although a circuit, it's corners are pretty much technical. Sort of like Tsukuba especially on the Sports car course. There are very minimal straightaways here, despite the wide driving range. Most here consist of light bends reaching from different elevations especially in the first section. So Shinosuke's strategy is to attain a much higher and controllable speed done by an NA compared to the turbo."
"I'm confused. Tomo can you translate?" Hiei asked.
"Ai yai yai... In terms you understand... Turbo is a double edge sword. NA is not. This is fact when technical courses with less straightaways are concerned." Tomo answered.
"I get it..." Ryusen acclaimed. As for Hiei... "Ohhhhhh.....WHAT?"
Back to the race.
The uphill and the first hairpin is the trickiest part of Infenion. Shimizu minimized his speed, shifts from 5 to 4 and attacks the inside closest to the nylon ramp, which sets half of the R390 airborne but clears the corner without touching the grass.
Shinosuke however, attacks directly through the corner, overpassing the apex and let's his FD fly.
"Hmm... good tactic." Shimizu whispered as he glances at the rearview mirror. "It reminds me of his tactic when I first fought him (he let's the inside tires grab the grass just close to Suzuka's elevated nylon ramp; he intentionally oversteers causing me to immediately brake to avoid collision)."
"But something is different... I don't seem to hear a hissing sound as he switches gears". He pondered. "Did he remove the FD's turbo?"
"Looks like my theory is correct. My FD corners better without the turbo."
The next corner's up. Shimizu's R390 grabs hold of the inner nylon while Shino's FD goes through the corner without lifting his foot off the gas.
"I'll play safe on the next bend." Shimizu says as he centers his R390 in the middle of the road through the next right hander.
"I can't seem to calculate the angle of this next bend as the elevation is way too high..." I'll thrust through the corner and hopefully land on the asphalt in the end." Shino planned as he was ready to "thrust" through the S-curve.
Shino's FD did just as he had planned. What he didn't calculate was that at the apex of the S-curves right hander, elevation drops significantly so he was airborne longer than the first turn.
He was ready to press on the brake as he lands.
Shimizu has already laid ground, and distance between them, though Shinosuke successfully puts the FD right back on track.
At the tents in the pits, some were watching the battle through the micro-cam connected behind the R390 which pictures the flying FD.

"He's nuts!!" Kasumi exclaimed.
"That's my brother!" Kitami proudly shouts to the amazed crowd.
The FD slides through the corner, well prepared for the more-or-less-90 degree right hander. He's slowly decreasing the gap.
"That was a good move Shinosuke. We're just halfway, try to keep up!" Shimizu shouts out in his R390.
"I can do this... I can do this..." Shinosuke chanted.
"I can beat you one more time!!" He yelled as he changes from gear 3 to 4 with lightning fast reflexes.

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jul 12 2008, 03:30 AM

Episode 3 - The dusty roads of infinity
Chapter 10 - Backfire

The engine roar of the R390 and FD is what echoes around infenion.
At the pits, Daiki is inputing all the data gathered about Shimizu's 390 and Shinosuke RE FD...
"Impressive. Despite the Road version tune of the R390, it's performance reaches that of the GT300 class. As for the FD, it's in the same class based on the data. Everything is great. Both cars..." Daiki said as he browsed through the data real quick.
"Well, Shimizu was one of the racers in the le mans national eliminations. He lost though since he miscalculated one corner and ended up hitting the wall, thus ruining his chances of entering the tournament years back." Hiroya said to him.
"No wonder he's part of the top 3 at Midnight masters."
"He's actually top 1 of the 3 before you came along and kicked all our asses."
"Hiroya! Daiki! Something is happening, come over quick!!"
The 2 ran quickly to the TV screen picturing the FD drifting at a certain high angle.
"What's he doing? doesn't he know he's destroying his tires even further!?"
Tomo analyzes Shinosuke's move and starts to drift to his own world.
He imagines as if his GT-R is an FR and mimics the same move that Shinosuke made.
"Now I know!!" Tomo yelled.
"What is it man? you don't have to shout!!" Tetsuya reacted.
"Sorry guys. but I know what shinosuke's planning. can't you picture his car's position?"
"Nope."
"u-uh..."
"I don't get what you mean."
Everyone was stumped. However, one of them was smart enough to see Tomo's point.
"I get your idea Tomo." Sakura answered.
"He's preparing to do an inertial drift. His car's positioned that way as he entered because he's trying to decrease the gap between his FD and the Nissan by drifting through the next turn."
"... that way, he can turn without needlessly braking for the next turn." Daiki interrupted.
"Right." Tomo said. "That way too, his exit speed could be enough to overtake the R390 at the long straightway.

(consult the map for details)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...eon_Raceway.gif

As the FD was drifting, like what Tomo said, Shinosuke taps the gas to transfer the weight of the car from the outside to the inside as he approaches the next corner.
Shimizu though, was tapping his brakes and sticks to the inside of the corner.
"As I exit this, we're now on the long straightway, I'll increase the gap further there. If I increase my press on the gas, I might understeer and lose time recovering. I'll earn a time loss if that happens. I won't allow that. That's why I'm limiting my speed here." Shimizu murmured to himself.

Shinosuke's FD, just as it hits the apex of the long, semi-round corner, starts to understeer as his speed increased, but was enough to clear the corner without letting his tires rub the grass.
Tomo was right. His exit speed is far more higher than the R390.
Shimizu was in shock. He could feel the FD right behind him.
"Wh...wha...what is this!?" The FD swerves a bit to the left lane to go neck-a-neck with the R390.
"Time to take the lead!!" Shinosuke yelled.

The FD is reaching 9000 rpm already, close to the 9500 red zone. However, his shift timing was delayed. He forgot that his car is in the limit and it slew down a bit.
"Sh... I forgot!!"
"What the? oh well.... go R390!!"
The R390 entered the corner from the outside, but the FD still insists on braking late into the corner.
"You're not serious!! Do you really think you'd pressure me this much like before? No chance!!"
The R390 pursued to turn despite the FD right beside him.
*this scene sorta reminds us all of Daiki Ninomiya's attempt to pressure Takumi at Initial D fourth stage episode 3*
The hairpin has its inner line covered with high-elevated nylon gutters; big enough to make your car lose its balance. Shinosuke's FD, sadly, hits one of them and forces him to start countersteering back.
"Like before!! Just avoid me, go on!!" Shinosuke shouted.
"No way!! I won't be fooled twice!!" Shimizu yelled.
Their cars then, started kissing each other's sides. Sparks were flying!!
The R390 slowly accelerates away from the contact, but it's starting to understeer.
Through the crooked straightway, the R390 and FD's noses were alternating in terms of who's got the lead as they're well positioned on the inside and outside of each bend.
As they approach the last hairpin bend, they're still neck-a-neck. They were both approaching the corner without slowing down. Shimizu brakes at the exact moment, while Shinosuke's not braking at all...
"What? You're not braking? You'll crash!!"
The FD brakes at the moment it passed the R390.
"you won't make it."
As the FD braked, Shinosuke controls it with throttle control through the corner.
The FD cleared the last hairpin in a very high speed.
Shimizu was in a state of shock. So was everybody else.
"Who would've thought... an NA modified FD surpassed a Le Mans turbo road car."
"Alright!!" Shinosuke exclaimed passing through the finish line.
"Well waddya know..." Tomo wondered. "I'm facing Shinosuke"
As Shinosuke boarded off the car, he went to Shimizu's R390.
"That was a good run."
"But you won. You deserve it. I guess, I shouldn't just stick to the circuit. Looks like your training in the togue really paid off."
"When we see a good course during our breaks, I'll teach you a thing or two on intense car control."
"Intense huh? looking forward to it!!"
The 2 drivers shook hands. Shinosuke then faced Tomo.
"I never thought I'd face you until now, Tomogashi."
'Neither have I, Shino. I've seen your brother race and his skill is superb. I want to see how fast you are... as my rival."
"Let's give it an all out battle then; after my little brother's battle against Sakura."
"Sure. Let's see how Sakura and Kitami would fare against each other."

"Would Sakura and Kitami please position their cars on the starting line." Hiroya announced.
"Who'll lead? and who'll chase?" Ryusen asked.
"Let's do this the old fashion way, waddya say Sakura?" Kitami asked.
"It's alright with me. Coin toss?"
"Yeah. You know the drill, Ryu-san."
"Gotcha. Heads or tails?"
"Heads." Sakura said.
The coin flipped. it landed on tails.
"Kitami takes the lead."
Ryusen leaves and tells Daiki the positions.
Meanwhile...
"Since it's our first time to face each other, let's introduce each other formally."
Kitami gives his hand.
"I'm Kitami, Kitami Kitamaru. Yorushuku"
Sakura gives her hand.
"I'm Sakura Johina. Nice to meet you too."
They turned back at each other and went to their cars.

Sakura went to her newly upgraded R34 R-tune.

Kitami went to his Mazdaspeed tuned RX-8


As they did, they started the engines and revved all the way to the red zone.
"This is it." Kasumi said.
"Another one of the GT-R vs Rotary die-hard matches." she followed.
"you're right" Daiki said.
A voice screams out the next race that is about to begin.
"THE BATTLE BETWEEN SAKURA AND KITAMI IS ABOUT TO START!!"

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jul 12 2008, 03:35 AM

The most recent battle was quite good (but I did have 2 problems with it). You're starting to get better at this.

As for the problems I had:
1.The "KANSEI DORIFTO?!" part. It takes a car a lot less time to drift around an S-turn than it takes to finish all that dialouge. The FD would have finished the inertia drift long before those guys finished that little discussion.
2.So all the FD does to win the battle is to take the last corner without braking?

To answer that... by the way, pretty good analysis...

1) Check the map. Before the Kansei Dorifto takes place, Shinosuke's preparing the car for that move, controlling his FD in a long drift, adjusting angles. He set it up at a high one to induce the car to a drift. I did a simulation in NFS Pro street of some sorts, and mimic the same movements, it was a success. Sorta. In a technical note, I forgot to mention, the TCS and ABS has been disabled. In short, the discussion was taking place while Shinosuke entered the right angle-like hairpin towards the long semi-round corner.

2) Actually... the FD DID brake. His aim was to overtake the R390 first BEFORE braking. He did brake, but only for a short while as he followed this up with weight shifting to clear the hairpin.

I'll be posting the SAKURA vs KITAMI battle soon.
Hope I answered your questions so far. Feel free to re-read the others and look out for more.

Yeah. But the inertia drift would have been shown before they finished the dialouge. It would probably take a lot of time to drift the long straight, but the hairpin would be finished quite soon.

Ok. So all the FD does to win the battle is to brake really late and somehow take the corner without sliding off-road?

I'll be waiting patiently for it.

Actually, for the last corner, there is no grass, off road, whatsoever.
it's a blind corner - the last tight hairpin curve. The outside is bordered; so is the inside.
the outside though has a big pile of tires on the ledges, and next to it is the pit lane.

NOW!! Let's get back to the story!!

Chapter 11 - A Crimson Spark

Sakura is checking if she got everything correctly, and in place. Her seatbelt, the gauges, the seat setting, the tires, the engine everything. Kitami on the otherhand is merely observing her.
"What is she up to? It's like she's about to ride a car she's not familiar with. Well, by looking at the exterior, her 34 is much more different. Her wing is remodified, the hood, and body kits, everything. The hood seems to be well ventilated, her body kit reminds me a bit of the MCR version... What the engine holds is what I fear..." Kitami murmured to himself. He approaches the hood of his RX-8 and opens it. He observes it for a while as the battle isn't starting yet.
"My RX-8 holds around 390 horsepower; good enough for uphill and downhill." He closes the hood and observes the body. "The body is ever since I met Tomo, along with my big bro at Akagi. I remodified the wing and replaced my rims with much lighter ones. I know I can't lose. Sakura, you may be a girl; I may be a girl addict, but I won't lose to the likes of you. My Renesis Wankel Rotary, is as strong as the 13B REW Rotary to take out your RB26DETT Skyline engine!!"
Tomo approaches Sakura to see if she's all set.
"You ready?" Tomo asked.
"Yeah, I am. My 34 seems to be 100% okay." Sakura replied.
"Hmph. Good to hear."
Tomo looks at Sakura's eyes. She looks back. Tomo, then, held Sakura by the shoulders. she felt a sudden chill.
"Do good out there, okay?"
"S...sure."
Tomo walks away.
Shinosuke approaches his brother and says the same thing.
"Hey bro," Kitami asked. "If I win; I want you to win against Tomo."
"So that we can rematch our battle at Shomaru before?"
"Yeah, that."
"You can count on it. I don't know how great Tomo is, knowing that we never faced each other yet, but I'm looking forward to it. In the mean time, don't lose, lil bro."
"You don't have to tell me that."
Everything was ready. The others went back to the stand at the pits.
Sakura checks the revs by letting it go all the way to 8000 rpm.
Kitami does the same thing.

"I will win. I want to face Tomo again. I promise you, Tomo. I'll win."
At the stand, Kasumi seems worried.
"You seem worried, Kasumi. Anything on your mind?"
"Oh, it's nothing." She replied to Tomo.
"It's about Sakura."
"Sakura?" Tomo pondered.
"Right. The only thing I'm worried about is what will happen to her after her battle, if she lost..."
"Why say that?"
"Sakura and I have been hanging out ever since we were both on the team. We got to know each other pretty well. As for Sakura, she might have... a relapse if she lost..."
"Fear of losing? Hating failure?"
"Sort of. You could put it that way."
"Don't worry, Kasumi. Sakura can handle it. If she was able to control the car without the ATTESA during the training, she can handle Kitami."
"You're right..."
The RX-8 and the R34 are running at a constant 20 mph.
As the RX-8 passes the checkered line, Kitami punches it.
Sakura's GT-R follows.
Because of power, Sakura intends to pressure Kitami before the first corner. The 34's bumper is only a centimeter away from the RX-8's.
"Wow. It's like her R34 powers out around 550 horsepower."
Kitami applies his attack - ride the nylon; the same tactic he used against Hiroya's Mine's evo6 when he used his Celica, and when he fought Keiichi at Kitana's Circuit.
"Mizutoshi, huh? Don't you think it's a bit early?"
Sakura attacks from the outside. Her 34 is immediately side by side with the RX-8. She braked early however, when they entered the first tight right corner. Kitami still held on to the lead. A slim lead.
the Renesis engine shouts and makes a backfire when Kitami downshifted from 4 to 3. The RB26 maintains its speed and acceleration power through the corner, despite it being on a steady 3700 rpm at gear 3.
Kitami centers his car on the road.
Sakura isn't rushing on overtaking the RX-8.
Before entering the 90 degree right corner during the downhill, Kitami intends to make the rear tires skid and lose control.
"He's losing control." Sakura exclaimed.
The Rx-8's body is slowly coming onto a high angle. He countersteers before the apex and exactly clears the corner with the outside tires slightly kissing the road and grass area.
Sakura uses the inner nylon to clear the corner.
Because it was downhill, Kitami is slowly increasing the gap.
Sakura's hand though is ready to hold the e-brake.
The RX-8 brakes and drifts through the long corner, controlling the car, maintaining it on the road, not caring whether it was on the inside or center.
There was a split second of delay on Kitami's front tires. Sakura's eyes were quick enough to notice it.
She enters the corner without braking to decrease the gap.
"She's not braking?" Hiei exclaimed watching the action via TV screen.
"Is she planning to hit the X-8?" Hiroya followed.
"No she isn't" Daiki mumbled.
Daiki was right, as soon as the 2 cars are parallel again, Sakura braked long and hard directly on the apex of the corner, quickly shifts down, letting the needle go nuts on the red zone.
As they clear the corner, the 34's rev falls down a bit; she let's it reach the gear's limit and shifts to 4.
Kitami shifts to 4 and smoke starts to come out of the rear tires, as it skids quite a bit.
"They're on the straightway, and Sakura is just half a car away from taking the lead away from Kitami." Tetsuya said.
"It looks like my little brother could lose this race." shinosuke whispered to himself.
Slowly, the GT-R is about to overtake the RX-8. They braked at the same moment before the hairpin. The GT-R is on the outside lane, the RX-8 is on the inside.
Kitami decides to play it safe but Sakura has something in mind.
The RX-8 attacks the inside too early and heads towards the outside.
Sakura does the out-in-out tactic.
"You still need to brake again on the next tight bend, Sakura!!" Kitami says as he tries to overtake from the outside.
Sakura thrusts through the nylon board, causing her 34 halfway airborne.

Kitami was stupified.
Everyone was. Even Tomo was amazed by what Sakura plans.
Sakura managed to pass Kitami and his RX-8.
"There are still some chances to pass her again!"
But despite Kitami's expectations, the Skyline slowly pulls away as it hits the bends.
Kitami was shocked again.
"What's... in her... Skyline...?"
Kitami slowed down. No doubt about it; he lost.
Sakura was relieved, she eased up as she finishes the race.
She took a deep breath.
"I guess my GT-R is better... no... I think... I've improved..."
She said with a sigh.
"Told you she could do it, Kasumi."
"Sorry if I have doubted her." Kasumi replied to Tomo with a smile.
"Looks like we won't be having that brotherly rematch..." Shinosuke said with a dissapointing tone.
Sakura enters the pits. Later on Kitami enters the pits too.
Everyone went to Sakura's Skyline. Everyone but the following: Shinosuke, Shimizu, and Daiki.
Tomo approaches Sakura.
"Congratulations, Sakura." He gave his hand to her.
"Thanks." They shook each others hands.
Everyone wanted to talk to Sakura on how she knew the attack point.
Kitami was still in a dissapointed mood but with a smile.
"I seem to become rusty for a moment... Ever since we went global, I tied with a FF driver and lost to a girl..."
"You didn't lose to the girl." Shinosuke said.
"Big brother..."
"You lost to both. Her and the car."
"Gee. Thanks. Now I just lost my dignity as a rotary driver!"
"Seriously, your RX-8 hasn't been upgraded much. Street battles and team contests like this are harder than before. Your car needs more power and better upgrades. It's the best for your car." Shinosuke rubs Kitami's hair - thus messing it up.
"You're not rusty. Your opponent... has improved a bit, that is why you lost."
Shinosuke enters his FD and does an exhibition. He came out of the pits through the entrance.
"Looks like Shino can't take it anymore." Daiki commented.
"Tomo!" Tomo glanced at Daiki.
'You're up!"
"Right."
Tomo prepares himself and starts his GT-R34. He equips his seatbelt.
Sakura and Kasumi approached Tomo's blue GT-R.
"Sakura... Kasumi."
Kasumi wanted to say something but Sakura first opened her mouth.
"Tomo... I'll wait for you in the finals. Win this, okay?"
I will. I never faced him before, I can't assure a unanimous win, but I'll try. I'll win because I want to race you."
"Um... Tomo..." Kasumi said to Tomo.
"Yeah?"
"Even if it's Shinosuke... do your best but stay safe."
Tomo became silent. Sakura did as well as she glanced at Kasumi.
Later on, Tomo started to speak.
"Thanks for caring Kasumi. I'll be off so the two of you... move a bit."
The GT-R comes out of the pit's exit and reverses towards the starting line.
His GT-R is wearing the standard Mine's front body; not the Nismo front body.
He removed the muffler and installed a twin for a single for this event. He aligns his car parallel to the FD. He looks at Shinosuke.
"you know, Tomo, this is the first time we faced each other."
"I know. Let's begin shall we?"
"Yeah. Daiki!!" Shinosuke said. "We're ready!"
"okay." Daiki replied. "Let's start."

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jul 12 2008, 03:42 AM

Still not bad. Keep it going yo

Can u give me a brief summary of ur story? I'm kinda lazy to go back and read from the beginning. Sorry. At least I know what it's about.

Special Request from Kylie_FD3S: A summary of the previous chapters before I head on to the next one...

Prologue: See comics.
Speed Legend 6 Series: Tomo starts to like Natsumi a bit. He gets the chance to race Akina's FC, Takeshi Musashiro. He gets challenged by one of the Underground racers at Irohazaka. Natsumi is about to move away and she decides to have a race with Tomo one last time at Akagi.
Speed Legend R: Tomo was recruited by Takeshi to his new Team: Reminiscent White (sorta like Project D). After a few expeditions, Takeshi was confined by his wife and was forced to retire. This led to a GT-R vs GT-R battle between Tomo and Sakura for Takeshi's fate. Tomo won; Takeshi decides to restart reminiscent white all over again. Later on, Tomo gets recuited, again, by Kitami Kitamaru of Saitama to a team called Noyzee Tribe. They had a battle with the Midnight Masters at Suzuka City, Mie prefecture. Daiki Akiyama, the fastest in Japan, challenges Tomo & his 34 to a 3-round battle at Akagi, Tsuchisaka, and Tokyo wangan area. Later on, he recruited Tomo to the Super GT league.
Speed Legend Epilogue: The Super GT teams had a break from the last round for a week. Tomo reminisces on his runs at Myogi and the persons he's about to leave behind. A couple of 4WD drivers from the US decides to conquer Gunma for their keeps; Tomo defends it and wins. He later on went to a date with Rikona, his long-term crush before he leaves Japan for good.
Speed Legend Epilogue 2: Team Japan starts their inter-league at Italy, where they met Kitana Tioseco - Daiki's student years back. They had battles at Italy, pro and street races; including a match from a Japanese street team who went abroad - Blue Crimson. Kitana decides to race tomo in an inter-state battle from Cote d Azur to her private circuit totalling 300 km. Their engines gave in in the end but Tomo's was half dead. The engine of Kitana's Diablo was totalled. He took the liberty of fixing her car.

Speed Legend S
Chapter One: The Start of a New journey
The team is about to leave Italy. Kitana and Daiki said their goodbyes. Kazuma gave Kitami some information about the 2.
Chapter Two: Pondering over prevailing thoughts
Kitami ponders over what Kazuma said to him.
Chapter Three: The Most Wanted
Details on the American Jack, Lucas Scott and the environment he prevails on.
Chapter Four: Moment of Arrival
Their plane arrived and everyone split up to explore the new area. Kasumi shares something to Tomo about her.
Chapter Five: Dawn of Encounter
Heading back to the hotel, Tomo suddenly got a challenge from the Locals; and his first encounter with the police over a huge misunderstanding. He was saved by somebody in a Viper.
Chapter Six: A new Sakura blossoms
While Tomo and Kasumi are playing around, Tetsuya comes over to show the new Sakura Johina, who got a new look; also her newly upgraded car.
Chapter Seven: Rites of Passage
The 4 test out the GT-R, where Tetsuya accidentally spills out the truth why the GT-R was drifty. Tomo panics and forces Tetsuya to turn the ATTESA ET-S on again. Daiki makes a call concerning the match at Infineon.
Chapter Eight:The Next top road warrior
Making arrangements, Tomo recommends Hiei onto the mock-tournament. Daiki restrains but has no other choice but to test him out. A downhill match between a Mazda NB6C Roadster and a Volkswagen Golf R32.
Chapter Nine: Upon Angel's wings
The first match begins at Infenion Raceway. Hiei forfeits the race and brings Tomo to the semis. Shinosuke and Shimizu fare out in the second round.
Chapter Ten: Backfire
The battle between Shinosuke and Shimizu was about to end in a tight dogfight. Did Shinosuke win? or was it Shimizu?
Chapter Eleven: A Crimson Spark
A quick battle between Sakura and Kitami. Power was the issue costing Kitami the race halfway.

Hehe...thank u! I feel so special!

Anytime, Kylie_FD3S. GOt any other requests, feel free to tell me... and to those reading this as well...

Now... Back to the story!!

Episode 4 - Forfeit is never given into
Chapter 12 - Split second

The FD and the GT-R are both set for the race. They're starting on a side-by-side fashion.
Tomo, since he's battling on a course he never had a chance to test on, is at a huge disadvantage. He can't seem to picture the course in his mind.
Shinosuke, on the other hand is calm enough to close his eyes before the race.
Later on, Hiroya starts to speak.
"This battle is the semi-finals between Tomogashi Kitsumoro and Shinosuke Kitamaru.
The race takes the form of a side by side start. This is a two lap race around the Infenion stock car course and..."
"Just get on with it and let's start!!" Shinosuke said in an irate tone.
"Sheesh... stingy..." Hiroya muttered to himself.
"Fine... Countdown..."
Hiroya left and the countdown lights start to appear...
"Will I chase? or will I floor it?" Tomo said to himself.
3....2....1.... GO!!
The FD and GT-R accelerated off the starting line... Tomo, however decided to ease up on the gas.
"Hmph. so despite the fact that your car's a 4WD, you decided to take the chaser position... Stupid choice. I'll outrun you from this point onwards!!"
the FD revved all the way to the red zone at 9500 rpm...
"He's increasing his pace!" Tomo exclaimed. "I better do something!!"
He follows the line of the FD and starts to splitstream through the bends at the exact speed that Shinosuke was on.
"Hi-ai!" Tomo said before they entered the next corner...
The next corner was an exact 90 degree right hander.
Shinosuke tapped his brakes and started to drift through the corner, nailing the apex.
Tomo just eased off the gas and lets weight shift do it's thing.
At the exit, Shinosuke's FD stopped drifting exactly at the center.
The GT-R was faster through and was only a ruler's width away from hitting the wall, yet he managed to decrease the gap even further.
"Na...NANDA!? B...bureku-janai?" (Japanese for "W...What? Not Braking?")
Shinosuke was in shock...
"Isn't he forgetting that this is a circuit course?" Shimizu wondered.
"there's actually something different about the stock car course from the sports car course, Shimizu. At the end of the long straight before the right angle corner, space is wide enough to drive through it without drifting much. Releasing the gas is enough to cut your sector time... Shinosuke just didn't notice that much." daiki reasoned out to him.
"So... in order to even the score between Tomo and Shinosuke, you let them race in the stock car course right?"
"Yup. I don't want any disadvantages here between rival who haven't raced with each other..."

(flashback)

"Since he has no Idea what the stock car course consists off, he's a stag at this section, giving Tomo the upperhand." daiki commented.

Back to the race, the FD and GT-R are now entering the next right hairpin of the stock car course.
"I can't do what I did on the last corner... what to do?" Tomo's starting to panic mentally.
Shinosuke had another plan up his sleeve. He plans to steal his little brother's attack and revise it back to the conventional style: curb riding.
"As far as I know, this is a common move in circuit races; let me apply this with a bit of drifting..." Shinosuke planned.
Shinosuke swerved to the outside, aimed at the apex AND braked at the same time. Since the GT-R was too heavy to make a critical turn, Tomo braked 100 meters before the corner; but due to stronger braking power in the GT-R because of the aftermarket racing brakes, he slew down even faster.
Shinosuke rode the nylon curb and cleared the corner faster. The GT-R got an exit boost due to it's turbo. It was enough to limit the gap increased by the FD...

"pull away, FD! PULL AWAY!!"
"Catch up, GT-R!! go!!!"
They're now on the long straightway with the light bends in the beginning. It was enough for the GT-R to narrow the gap.
Tomo suddenly slowed down and let's his tachometer drop.
"He was so close to taking the lead from me from the outside, what's he up to?" Shinosuke bothered.
"Tomo..." Kasumi and Sakura wondered.
"Is he giving up?" Hiei and Ryusen wondered.
"Kitsumoro, what are you up to?" Daiki asked himself.
As it reached 2900 rpm, Tomo attacked the inside.
Shinosuke's FD was on the center of the road as he braked for the final hairpin.
As he looked at his right windshield, he saw the GT-R on the inside, close to his FD...
"What the!?"
"huh!?"
"What was that!!?"
Everyone, including Shinosuke was confused with what Tomo's GT-R did.
"He applied both the fading line, out-in-out, and engine braking! Impressive." daiki said in an awe of "silent" excitement.
Tetsuya didn't get what Daiki said.
"What do you mean by engine braking?"
"Engine braking is like this," Daiki explained. "Engine braking is when you take your foot off the accelerator, wait for the revs to drop by about 1000-3000 RPMs, then downshift. This slows the car down without using the brakes, thus reducing the wear on said parts."
"Parts like tires right, and brakes?"
"You got that right." Hiroya added. "It's a common rally technique as well on those medium bends that need some braking... I think."
Tomo came out of the outside and Shinosuke ended up on the inside; making them side by side.
"Which of them will cross the checkpoint first?" Ryusen asked.
Suddenly a loud banging burst came out of the FD... It's front tires were punctured; Shino lost control. He braked for his life. Tomo accelerated further and braked later on to avoid the collision.
Later on, both cars went to a halt.
The front of the FD was damaged, he hit the wall while he was braking. Shino was safe but the FD earned itself Heavy damage.
Tomo came out of his car and chased after Shinosuke. Everyone went towards him too.
Shinosuke took out his safety belt. He stepped out of the car.
"You alright?" Tomo asked.
"I am... What do you think happened?"
"Beats me."
"Tetsuya, mind if you check it out?"
Tetsuya came towards them with a jack.
"I got it. Ryusen, raise the front.
Ryusen raised the jack - raising the front of the FD.
"The tires were punctured."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Looks like somebody doesn't want us to race here."
"That didn't happen a while ago... why just now?"
"As far as I can remember... in the previous battles..."

"What could be the cause then?" Sakura asked.
"Found it." Ryusen said.
There were spikes placed on the road; just a car's width - from the railing to the middle of the road. They were opaque in color - painted the same as the road it was on not to be seen. Whosoever did this preparation must have done his or her job pretty well...
"In other words, the 4 who raced a while ago... well, two to be exact didn't bother to drive on the inner lane after the hairpin... I think it was placed there before we came." Daiki explained.
"You are so great at explaining stuff, Daiki Akiyama. I've heard a lot about you. Lucas knows you through your many credentials all over the net." A voice came out of nowhere - 300 meters from where the whole team was standing.
"Now, that you're done... leave. We got training here."
"Get out a here, you bunch a noobs. we got an event here.
Everyone was angry; however, neither one said a word. They just gave the locals who called their attention an angry stare...
"Who... are you?" Tomo asked in an angry tone, with a grin on his face...

(consult the Infenion map at chapter 10 post to know what the stock car course looks like. - pretty much like the sports car course only on the straight after the S curve.- gray section)

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jul 12 2008, 03:49 AM

Chapter 13 - A battle for the wrong cause part 1

There was a dark atmosphere surrounding everyone at Infineon.
Both sides were giving the opposite group a stern stare.
"Weren't you noobs listening? I said, get out of here." One of the locals said.
"We don't want to. You can't force us." Tomo said.
Sakura started to become concerned over Tomo's actions. "Tomo, please, don't start a fight."
"I'm not, Sakura. I'm just showing these locals the meaning of democracy that the Americans are proud of."
Sakura and the others were wondering over what Tomo had just said. "Isn't he just agitating them to start a ruckuss which will start a fight?" everyone wondered.
"If you won't move. What way would you decide to settle this? Like a winner takes all thing? Or are you scared you little pussy?" Everyone in the locals group are laughing at Tomo for calling him a pussy.

"Uh-oh! This isn't good. If Tomo gets mocked further, he's bound to explode" Kasumi panicked. Before she could even reach for Tomo's hand to lower his temper; Daiki spoke in their behalf.
"You just gave me an idea. How's say this. Right now, let's have a battle - an AMBUSH battle."
"A-ambush battle!?" Hiei, the Kitamarus, Ryusen, and Tetsuya reacted in fear.
"You mad, Akiyama? We'll get completely screwed that way!"
"No it ain't. It's a good way to know if our skill is high enough to meet the standards of the highly skilled locals here. This battle is beneficial." Daiki explained before turning to the locals group.
"waddya say, gentlemen? Battle it is?"
"Like always - the great Daiki Akiyama, as casually behaved as any gentleman. Fine, Mr. Jap-man. Battle it is. Who's facing us?"
"Me." Tomo answered.
"No, I'll do i-" Sakura insisted as she was utterly interrupted.
"You wouldn't like it if I lost to you without knowing the layout of the sports car course, now would you, Sakura? It would be unfair on your part as well..."
Sakura thought about what Tomo said and agreed.
"You're right. You battle then. Just... be careful, okay?"
"Don't worry. I will" Tomo said to sakura, patting her shoulder as he boards his GT-R.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
"fine. Guys, you race."
"Gotcha." three voices said in succession coming out of the entrance.
Three cars came out and headed onto the starting line.

SPOILER

The cars came in succession: A black Lancer Evolution 9 MR edition covered in vinyls A black Nissan Skyline R34 covered in the same vinyls like the Evo A Corvette C6 covered in a military vinyl

"Let's take this outside. Performance of these are too overrated for this limited area."
"Where to?" Tomo asked.
"The Nevada desert Highways. We fight there, it's the perfect spot."
"That's far!" Kasumi reacted.
"No need to worry, Kasumi. You don't need to go. It'll be only me and Daiki."
"We'll keep you a visual of the battle. I'll be placing this webcam on the GT-R." Daiki answered.
With that, the 3 local drivers, Tomo and Daiki set off to Nevada.
"Is it a long drive?" Kasumi asked.
"They're close by. California and Nevada I mean." sakura answered.
See Map of America
"Those two states are just next to each other, so it'll take them a quick drive." Tetsuya followed.
Once there. Daiki set up the web cam onto the GT-R's dashboard.
"All set. You sure it's not obstructing your vision?" Daiki asked.
"I'm okay." Tomo replied.
"Tomo, I have one piece of advice for you."
"What is it?"
"Well, based on the revving of the cars a while ago, they seem to possess around more than 950 horsepower."
"Are you kidding me?" Tomo said in shock.
"Not to worry. I asked tetsuya yesterday to reinstall a stronger turbocharger onto your GT-R. It now has around less than 800 horsepower. I had a feeling that an intrusion such as this means big big business so it's time to take it up a notch for this battle only. We'll return it to it's original state after it. So now, you won't have any problems. But that's not what I'm trying to say here. Actually, I'm advising you to do a splitstream as much as possible."
"The splitstream? like the one that I used to beat you?"
"Don't remind me. Anyway, this might be what these locals call a speed challenge. Just retain your highest maximum speed."
"what about engine bre-"
"You don't have to worry about that. I set the ECU to limit your maximum speed to 230 mph once you attain that. During a splitstream, it may reach up to 240 but don't count on it, you hear me? You won't be able to control the car at that speed. The 230 limit is the highest you can reach and is the maximum limit of handling capability for this battle. Use your splitstreams frequently but catiously, okay? Don't push the car too much."
"So this could reach up to 230?"
"That's right."
"Cool!" Tomo said in excitement.
"I'll be alright." Tomo said.
"Now... let's do this!!"
With the locals group...
"Hey, shouldn't we tell Lucas about this?"
"He won't know a thing, as long as we beat his kid. Besides, my Evo is fit for this..."
"So is our GT-R and corvette. So there's no worry."
"You're right, I mean, look at it!! That blue GT-R? It's not that scary unlike ours."
"Just look! I mean, all stock, BBS Rims, a carbon hood... that's it?"
"Let's outrun him at the very start."
"Let's begin! Let's not waste anymore time..."


This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jul 12 2008, 03:54 AM

Wow. That is pretty good. I'd buy it or download it from a bit torrent or pick one up from world news.

Hey!! YOU'RE my FIRST post. Congrats!!!!

This post has been edited by driftsucky on Jun 21 2008, 10:23 AM

Hey guys! for those who miss my comics, never fear!!
This was a late comic post since I was looking for these for days now. Anyway, here it is! The speed Legend Prologue Insert Story!!









Video - Tomo vs Rikona at Tsukuba [WET]

Now! Back to the current story.
Chapter 14 - A battle for the wrong cause Part 2

At Infenion, the rest of the team seem worried.
Kasumi is in a corner holding a picture of Tomo tightly in her chest.
Sakura is just beside her to comfort her.
The rest of the group have their eyes pinned on the Television screen hoping to see Tomo win the race.
All 4 cars are stepping on the accelerator, making huge rev sounds.
They are placed in this order (from the back)

Tomo GT-R --> Corvette C6 --> Lan Evo 9 --> Skyline R34 GT-R

Daiki is starting the countdown.
3!! 2!! 1!! GO!!!!
The GT-R and Lan Evo rocketed out of the starting line.
The corvette followed in it's usual FR type acceleration - slow start with a huge burnout compared to a 4WD.
Tomo followed along.
He passed the corvette before entering the first bend.
The blue GT-R rode the center of the road and the inner dirt lane.
Distance was huge when comparing these 4...
There was around 200 meters per car. 75 meters between the leading black R34 and Evo 9.
"To save some time and to decrease the gap, I have to control the car in high speed through the bends. Deceleration will be my braking. I hope tetsuya managed to set the suspension right... Because... the car's jumping all over the place... the road surface is bad in this road... It is totally killing my speed!" Tomo strategized.
The GT-R driver leading is communicating to the Evo driver...
"Looks like he's having trouble with the road surface."
"What an idiot. He never bothers to check his suspension setting? such a big L!"
"Guys" the Corvette driver joined in the conversation. "You better pull away quickly. despite what you're saying there, he's picking up speed."
"you sure with that?"
"I'm positive. Quickly! Pull away. I'll be alright as long as you guys are leading."
With the big turbo equipped on the lancer and GT-R, they start to pull away once they reach the exit of the corner.
Tomo followed up. His GT-R punched to fifth at 9000 rpm. He is reaching around 187 mph. He's slowly catching up to the Lan Evo.
There was a huge change in elevation in the road they're on.
The Lan Evo and GT-R slowed down as their cars gained air.
Tomo on the other hand can't help but pin his foot in the accelerator.
His GT-R gained air but as soon as his car lands on the road surface, the front bumpers lower extension made contact with the road first, causing his GT-R to lose balance.
Tomo panicked and removed his foot from the gas. He powerslided to safety as soon as his car was tilting at an angle.

He gained control again; he was safe.
At Infenion, everyone was relieved to see Tomo still alright.
Kasumi was an inch away from fainting over the close-call-calamity.
Tomo's jump was high enough to clear a 50 meter gap behind the Lan Evo 9.
They are now halfway through the pass.
The Lan Evo driver is starting to become cocky.
"Alright we're so gonna win this."
Suddenly he hears a car tap the back of his bumper.
"What the? Is it our corvette? or that noob?"
He looks at his rearview mirror and notices a blue GT-R right behind him!
"What the!? No way!!"
Tomo's GT-R is riding in a steady 235 mph.
He now decides to cut through. He quickly swerves to the left of the Evo and overtakes at a higher speed.
The Evo was just stuck at 210 mph; it was easy for Tomo to cut through; but he didn't stay infront of the Evo but he was just on the next lane, trying to retain his 230 which is slowly dropping.
He's slowly catching up to the leading GT-R.
"I need to get closer to this fast GT-R..." Tomo reacted.
"I need to pull away from this dude!" the black GT-R driver said to himself.
They are only 2 miles away from the finish.
The GT-R's are closely tailing each other.
Tomo now decides to splitstream next to the other GT-R. It was a successful attempt.
He's closing in; they're now neck a neck!
"I'm not gonna let you! Not a chance!!"
The Black GT-R rammed Tomo's GT-R causing both to lose control.
Both cars are off balance. The Black GT-R suddenly went into a barrelroll and landed on it's hood. Tomo stopped but was facing the wrong direction. He immediately shifted to Reverse. He was 100 meters away. The Evo 9 is closing the gap. Tomo was about to panic!
"It's time for a 360!!"
He is still geared in reverse; he turns his car towards the left for a quick spin; he immediately shifts from R to 1 and punches on the gas and clutch.
Tomo made it to the finish and made a quick sigh of relief.
His car is positioned horizontally like a roadblock in the middle of the street.
Tomo was exhausted.
But the Evo driver is coming close by!
Tomo quickly shifted to 1 before the impact.
Luckily there were no serious damages except for the black GTR; but the Blue R34's rear bumper was severly damaged from the impact with the Lan Evo.
"Whoo! Close call... You alright Kitsumoro?" Daiki asked through a walkie talkie.
"I... am... let's head back... we got a finals to settle..."
The GT-R returned for Daiki then, they headed back to Infenion.
Back at the carnage site...
"This is supreme bull!"
"Don't say anything further. If Lucas hears about this..."
"He won't do anything unless he hears it."
Suddenly, a blue Corvette speeding by skids to a stop at the Black GT-R with the evo and C6.
"I...it's..."
"Lost huh?" A voice said from the Blue Corvette.
"It's nothing, boss..."
"Boss... don't tell me you'll be after..."
"No I won't... I wanna talk to this kid. Plus, I got some stuff to do right now."
"What a relief... We don't want your hands to get dirty over this."
"I heard he's in town... with team Japan is that right?"
"yeah..."
"Along with Akiyama Daiki?"
"Whoa! How did you know, boss?"
"It's in the net, stupid."
"Anyway... I'll talk to him once I see him, but not now. See you in our next meeting."
The driver of the Blue Corvette shifts to first.
Then, he speeds off with a huge burnout.
The LS7's supercharged engine shifts to 2 at amazing speed.
The rest of the crew were left dumbdounded.
"I've never seen boss so calm like this"
"you got that right. I mean when we lose, he'd like hit our heads or something..."
"Something's up with boss... but I don't know what or why..."
They just stood there thinking... or in the point of view of others, acting stupid as they looked towards the sky.
The sound of the Blue Corvette ZO6 was the only sound that echoed throughout the Nevada desert speedway.


Chapter 15 - Battle of the R Emblem!! A rerun

The Blue, battle-scarred GT-R returns to Infenion to race in the final match of the mock-contest. The Rear bumper is close to falling off; everybody was shock seeing the damage done. Tomo comes out unharmed, which gave a sign of relief for the rest of the team members. Kasumi however is still worried.
"Tomo! Are you sure you're alright? Can you walk?"
"I still can. Don't worry too much about me."
"But... but..."
"Kasumi, Tomo's fine. I saw him unharmed after the race..." Daiki said.
"Alright." Kasumi is convinced.
"We're back on track, team. Thanks to Tomo here, we can pursue the final match. There will be a 15 minute break first, giving time for Tetsuya to fix the rear of the Skyline."
"I'll help." Hiei insisted.
"Me too!" Ryusen followed.
Tetsuya, Tomo, Hiei, and Ryusen are hurriedly fixing up the Skyline. Good thing they bring spare parts of the cars in one of their trailers. It was easy for Tetsuya to change them.
Within fifteen minutes, the R34 was repaired.
"Is the rear okay?" Tomo asked.
"It's all good! You can start anytime." Tetsuya replied.
Tomo gives a thumbs up to Daiki.
"Okay. Will Tomo and Sakura please line up their cars to the starting line." Daiki hollered.
Sakura slowly brings the GT-R onto the starting line.
Tomo was all set, he was just waiting for her to line her car up.
Sakura gets out of her car.
"Doesn't this remind you of our battle at Akina?"
"I still remember that battle."
"You guys already battled?" Daiki wondered.
"Yeah. When I was still under Takeshi Musashiro and Reminiscent White. A slight Musashiro conflict that got both of us involved unfortulately." Tomo answered.
"Yeah, I mean... we're the solution to the debate of Takeshi and Hikari"
"It's too bad though, neither in the team except us knows that we raced against each other."
Tomo faces Sakura, Sakura faces him back.
"Shall we start?"
"Lets!"
The 2 RB drivers got into their cars. Daiki was starting the countdown.
Sounds of loud, roaring engines are what they hear.
The needles are approaching 9000 rpm.
"Let's start the countdown!!"
Everybody was excited. They were all cheering for both!
3!-->2!-->1-->GO!!!
Both GT-Rs took off the starting line at lightning speed! Daiki got blown away a bit when they boosted away!
This battle is gonna be good
Tomo was on the outside, Sakura was on the inside.
The first bend of the Sports car course was up. Tomo decides to floor it on the outside.
Sakura decelerates a bit to position her car for the next corner.
Then there was the right hand corner.
Sakura attacks towards the inside.
She was too close to Tomo who was riding the curb. Tomo gained the lead exiting that corner.
"argh..." Tomo whispered as he switched gears...
"It wasn't like this a while ago. Why now?"
Because of the pain plaguing Tomo, his car slowed down during shifting.
Sakura is sticking really close to the GT-R.
Back at the Pits...
"Say, Tetsuya," Shimizu wondered. "What's the difference between Tomo and Sakura's GT-R34s?"
"The difference?" Tetsuya verified.
"Yeah... are there any, since you are their repairman."
"Well, for starters, the model year and type. Tomo's is a V-specII Nur, while Sakura's is an early V-spec I based on the 1999 model. In terms of upgrades, Tomo's basic upgrade was Mine's based while Sakura's was Tommykaira based. Now they both have a percentage of Nismo upgrades. Sakura's is racing based, when it comes to other parts; Tomo's is street based with a bit of pro-racing influence."
"If there's a difference, it's unlikely..."
"So their cars are equal, apparently, huh?" Daiki added.
"That's right." Tetsuya concluded.
"Now... only driving style and technique will differentiate these two equals"
The 2 GT-Rs sped through the next set of corners before the hairpin...

This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Aug 1 2008, 10:28 PM