(Takichi's pov)

  “Sure about it ?"

  "Not one bit."

  Each was on their respective ride. They were on an empty straight road, left a long time ago because of the violent crime that stopped its use. Now the long road is the capsule gang personal track. The good thing about the track is that it's one straight line, so this will be a pure race about speed.

  With both rides set behind a white line, they await the signal light.

  Red flickers off and yellow flickers on.

  .

  .

  .

  Then the green flickers to life.

  Takichi presses the lever down, foot on the gas, hands on the wheel. Takichi’s rear wheels burn the road was released.

  At the same time was the electric sound coming out of Kaneda's bike.

  They leave with a bck trail on the burnt road, matching speed with each other.

  Kaneda shot a gnce at him, seeing Takichi's rexed manner. Having one hand on the steering, the other's resting on the clutch.

  He catches her looks, "fast enough." He conveys through the look of his eyes. Giving her a side-eye.

  'This guy.' Hurrily she type on the bike console. Right away, his bike sparks up as it gains more road ahead.

  'How about now.' She looks back with a grin. To her dismay, he still looks the same.

  Inside the car, Takichi is completely calm. While the gap between them is widening, he shows no sign of concern.

  Looking back, there y two huge canisters of Nos with tubes plugging right into his engine cylinder.

  The performance of the car is astoundingly good. Handling in one hand, he moves his hand to twist one valve.

  Lering the nitro sink in, and flipping one switch on the panel. The engine begins to roar with renewed energy. All of his exhaust spews blue fme, scarring the girl in front of him. Bursting forward with fme, his car cut her run as it made its way.

  With the sudden shift of force, Takichi's whole body got kicked way back into his chair.

  'That's not even half of it.' He twists the valve to the second canister. Flipping another switch, he steps on the gas hard.

  The immediate force doubled, and his car almost flipped on its front.

  BOOM

  This sets the engine all off in a chain reaction, white-hot and whooshing, fmes erupting with unmatched ferocity, consuming the car and everything in its path. Acceleration of his car's horsepower firing up and kicking the engine into overdrive is making his grip on the wheel unsteady.

  The finish line was in sight, but he didn't slow down. Or more like he can't, by now Takune could imagine the worried look of someone.

  An amateur like him has to use the nitro as the only way to win; it comes with a risk, but it is a risk he can manage.

  Hitting the clutch, it didn't take a mechanic to know how much your average car is going to be damaged from one uncontrolled nitro boost, not to mention two.

  His car tires screeching and squealing, he crossed the line far before the iconic red bike can.

  Turning at a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle, he turns the keys in his engine and shuts down in time. The car skids to a stop with a trail of bze behind.

  Kaneda rode next to him, pulling down his window. She greeted a calm Takichi.

  "What was that?" She can't help but ask.

  "A trick up my sleeve." He kicked the door open since it had been stuck. "Oh, and i'll imagine you'll follow through your deal ?"

  "Ah'jeez...yeah." she hisses, scratching her chin, 'how do i tell her i don't have the cash for the parts.'

  "See, i'm going to need some time. You know, buying parts and all that stuff."

  "Oh, then maybe this could help." The guy said, bending back in his car to get something out, "here." He tossed a chunk of something into her hands.

  Kaneda caught in a heavy *Humpth*, wondering what it could be. Her eyes shocked wide open, in her hand is a solid chunk of gold.

  "T-this...you're-"

  "That should cover enough for my ride, right ?"

  "Yeah, of course. I'l have your ride "

  ---------

  (Takune's pov)

  He smiles, as someone who consumes media shows like him. Going to America is a rare chance indeed; it shouldn't be that different, but to him, it is. After all, he finally got a chance to use all those English lessons to use.

  As he walked in the street of Seattle, every now and then, Takune would check his screen.

  [World: Chronicle]

  [Quest: collect the MOGOs]

  'What the heck is a mogos.' Maybe his knowledge isn't that great because Takune has also never seen this movie before. But seeing the environment he was put in and the mission, he could assume it was an object.

  It must be close, considering he was dropped here. At first, he tried sending out drones to find information about this thing. Mogos or whatever, but the result is unsurprisingly disappointing.

  "Hey cutie." Jogging to his side, a woman came into view.

  She was super cute, with short bck hair, perfect chocote-toned skin, rge brown eyes, and crimson lips. Having a toned frame resembling an athlete.

  Follow right behind her is another girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin.

  "Me ?" He said, one eyebrow raised in surprise.

  "Yeah, dude. Like, you're super cute and all. Are you out of town ?" The woman asked, despite her nice voice.

  Takune could feel their eyes checking him out; unconsciously, he saw her friend. She changed the direction of her gaze as he looked.

  "More like out of country. I'm a tourist." He said.

  "Oh, well that's perfect. Why don't you join us, we having a party tonight. I'm Stacy, by the way." She introduced herself, "over here is my friend-" pointing to the side.

  "I'm Matt; friends call me Matty through."

  He stared at them, thinking in mind. 'Oh well, whatever.' He has nothing else to do anyway.

  "Sure, where it's at?"

  Later that night, he got invited to a huge mansion. Neon lights and techno music bsting to max volume.

  He really doesn't like it; the drinks are shit, the music is causing his ear to bleed, and the pce is filled with idiots that either are perverts or drunk with too much liquor in their bodies. Just like his old life, except every one of those idiots has boobs and is dancing without a shirt on.

  It was fun only in the first few moments, but now he can't stay. Frustrated about wasting time doing useless things, he just went out.

  Going through the backyard, he spotted a girl hiding her face under a hoodie. A big recorder in hand.

  "Hmm..."

  A lone girl out here while there was a party inside ? Takune could guess the reason, but he wasn't going to see that girl out of nowhere; it was pretty creepy in his mind. Looking away, he went on his way until a voice called to him.

  "Hey you good ?" It was Stacy. "You suddenly left, i was worried."

  "Nah, i'm fine. Just need some air."

  "Anyway, me and Matt found out about this crazy hole. We were about to go check it out." She said, looking over his shoulder. Her face wrinkled up; Takune knew what was going to happen next.

  'This is some movie cliche...wait, just like a cliché ?' A sudden thought came by. He watches as the girl moves closer to the hoodie girl.

  They talked for a bit, and eventually, Matt came out as well. She exchanges a gnce at him before going over. The three of them got up seemingly in a better mood.

  Quickly, all of them started to walk away, and Takune followed them. As they walked, Stacy continued to babble on about her new discovery. And on the way, the girl in the hoodie introduces herself as Andy.

  Takune quickly made an acquaintance casually, but in his mind, Takune was more nervous and excited about this thing. If what he thinks is true, then he is a part of some movie plot; now, all he needs to do is follow them, and he can get to his goal.

  "Hey girle, you got like a light ?" Matt said, they were going deeper into the woods.

  Moonlight barely makes it through the leaves; the girls must have trouble seeing. Takune, for his part, has eyes so good; in his sight, everything is as clear as day.

  Hiding a hand in his pocket, he draws out a small light from the inventory. At the same time, the girl in the hoodie mumbled something under her breath. Then, a light fshes on her recorder. With Takune fshlight in hand.

  A few more minutes of walking and he sees it, eyes instinctively going to the giant hole in the ground even before Stacy and Matt can.

  "Here, here. Gals, check this out." Stacy was jumping at the site.

  Matt pulled him closer, and the two of them crouched down lower, anticipating the strange sound. Everyone was shushed and all that was heard was the sound of the wind blowing the trees. Suddenly a loud metallic rumble came hurtling out of the hole making almost everyone jump back.

  "How creepy is THAT!?" Stacy said, giggling excitedly.

  "Is the sound coming up?"

  "One way to find out, we're going inside!" Stacy said, making a decision for the four of them. Matt and Andy didn't get to say a thing before she crouched down and slid inside the hole shouting.

  "Welp, i'm not one to be left behind." Takune slid in right after her. A bit of urgency is hidden in his movement.