Cruiser Chronicles
An Acceleracers Tampered 'Verse Fic by Wolf Kazumaru
Before they were silver... We were gold!
Chapter Eleven: Bonus points if you figure out what Ukos means.
Tezla yelled into the Mic "The drivers entering the... *pause* Uhm... Flotilla realm will be... Trevor Hardright! Wolf Kazumaru! Artemis Orion! And Mark Ukos!"
Wolf turned and spun his keys on his finger. "Yarr."
Pheonix sat in the Kamikaze, plams sweating. Wolf got in the van, grinning like a maniac.
Mark Ukos, a lanky-looking blonde Burner, got in his car. A slick-looking flame-painted RWD car, with a rear-mouted engine and red-tinted windows. And a spoiler, of course.
Artemis got in his likewise flame-painted car, RWD with a front mounted engine, retractable headlights, and red tinted windows. And a spoiler. XD
Wolf said over the radio "Phase check?"
Raioh looked at the wheel and said over his walkie-talkie "In phase."
Mark Ukos looked up at the wheel "Yeah, in phase... Artemis..." he said
"Pheonix..." Wolf said
"LET'S RIDE!" They yelled in unison.
Wolf slammed the pedal to the metal, and ripped through the loops and into the realm, Closely following Mark, and followed by the other two. Wolf hit a few keys on his laptop (Now up front) and the song "Hammel on Trial - The Seven Seas" started playing through the speakers. Wolf smiled ironically, as the song played. Wolf activated the Laughing Gas, and ripped into the Realm...
Wolf looked around, as his car fell from the air... He was too much in awe to be scared. He saw a gigantic ship in the distance, and several others closer. By sheer luck, he saw the portal, on that ship. He also noted the name on the side: USS Hillary Clinton.
Wolf's van landed on the deck of what appeared to be another Aircraft carrier, and he slammed his head into the steering wheel.
"URgh..." he moaned.
The other racers were apparently in the same condition, and Pheonix was the first to recover.
"Uhh, Wolf... Where the heck do we go?" He said over the radio.
"Urg... Uhh... I th- thinkk I see a... a track at the uh, other end of the uh, aircraft... Aircraft... urrrrrrgh... Aircraft carrier..." Wolf said, his words slurring.
"Wolf, you okay?" Pheonix said, concerned.
"Y-yeah, man... I'm, uh... I'm... Gonna gonna... Gonna be uh... Fine... Gimme a... Gimme a minute..." Wolf said, shaking his head, trying to clear his vision. "Get... Going, dude... Urk... Drones... Drones are coming!"
"Alright, dude... Just make it to the end, dude! MAKE IT TO THE END!" Pheonix said, as the Burners sped off, followed closely by him.
Wolf grabbed his head, which was pulsing with the fierceness and regularity of a jackhammer. His vision was blurring... his hearing was distorted... His heart was pumping at a speed close to the sound barrier. Wolf tried to focus his thoughts... Calm Down! You're not bleeding, calm down!
Wolf's heartbeat slowed to racing levels... His vision was restored... His hearing was still a bit warped, and his head hurt... But he could still drive with that.
Wolf hit a few more commands on his laptop, and the song "Band on the Run" started playing. He grinned once again, and floored the gas.
MEANWHILE, FURTHER UP THE TRACK!
Pheonix took the first turn of the track, going off of the Carrier. It was kind of scary, really. Driving right off a carrier... But anyway. He drifted through the corner with ease, still in third place. His bumper was almost touching Artemis', though, and they were drafting together.
Pheonix and Artemis went past Mark, and through a loop in the track. They rounded a mid-air bend, and Pheonix cursed. Part of the track was submerged.
Tezla's voice came over the radio. "Pheonix, the key to this part of the track is to-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Pheonix said, as his car entered the submerged portion of the track. There was a turn right after that short submerged section, and Pheonix quickly decided to try and drift through it.
Pheonix hit the E-Brake, and his car started sliding. "TREVOR! YOU'RE GOING TO FLY OFF THE TRACK!!!" Raioh yelled over the radio.
"Oh, no I'm-" Pheonix started.
"HEADS UP! DRONES!" Wolf yelled over the radio. Pheonix could hear the song "Hamasaki Ayumi - YOU" playing in the background.
"Wha!?" Pheonix said, his concentration slipping momentarily. He quickly resettled back into the drift, and braced for impact...
Pheonix's car slid mere inches away from the guard rail of the turn, and he sighed. He had survived... Behind him, Mark Ukos was not as lucky. His car slammed full force into the rail, flipping over into the water.
Pheonix said into the radio "Wolf! When you round the turn after the submerged section, Stop. That other burner guy flipped into the water... See if he's still alive." he said, shaking. That was almost me... he thought.
Pheonix heard a roar behind him... No, several roars. His mind mentally checked through a list of the engine noises he knew. McLaren F1? Nope. Any of the Burners cars? Nope. Wolf's Cruisin' Van? Heck no. Drones? Close, but the loudest sound was too low... Like something very large... But they didn't have anything like that, did they?
Pheonix checked his rear view mirror, and gasped. He spoke into the radio again "Artemis, heads up. Big thing coming up behind us. Looks like a transport... But dang, that mofugga's fast!"
Artemis' reply came "Yeah, I see it. I'll draft with you, okay? When it starts to get close... I'll TORCH IT!" He said, laughing maniacally. They switched positions.
They flew through some S-turns, and ripped across the deck of a destroyer. They were nearing the end, Pheonix thought... He presumed they'd go around all the ships surrounding this big one he saw earlier...
The big black vehicle... Probably a Drone vehicle... Was almost right behind them...
((MEANWHILE! WAY BACK ON THE TRACK!))
Wolf looked into the water... No sign of life... Dang... It was too late...
Wolf sighed, and then he noticed a wrecked drones vehicle... Looked pretty much just like a motorbike... And the drone looked only slightly damaged!
Wolf, in a burst of strength, quickly loaded both up into the Van, tied them down, and was about to set off again... When he saw someone climbing onto the track!!!
Wolf got out again and ran over to the guy.
"Yo, dude! You okay?" Wolf said.
"I am... Alive, da..." he said, with a thick Russian accent. Wolf noticed that he wasn't a Burner- He had purpleish armor.
"You got a name, man?"
"Da... Name is Grigori Berman. What is yours?"
"Ross Kazumaru... Everyone calls me Wolf." Wolf said, a bit suspicious "So. how did you get here?"
"Ah, well... The team I race for, they say to me 'Grigori! We need you to race today!' And they send me through portal, and here I am..." Grigori said.
"Uhh, okay. You want a ride out of here?" Wolf said.
"Da, would be nice..."
"alright, hop in!"
They got in the Van, and sped off...
((WAyyyyyyyyyy farther up!))
Pheonix and Artemis had almost gotten all the way around t hat large ship, and the track was now spiraling up. The huge Drones thing was right behind them, and it looked like it was going to devour them. The Bikes with it didn't seem very friendly either, and a whole ARMY of drones was behind it.
Pheonix sighed "Artemis, I'm going to start using the Laughing Gas now..." he said,
"Alright, I'll do the same."
"Operator, I need a line out..." Pheonix said ironically, as he hit the trigger, ripping up the spiral so fast everything was blurring around him "YEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHAWWWWW!!!" He yelled to no one in particular. His car finally exited the corkscrew, and came upon the deck of the USS Hillary Clinton (He manged to make out the name on the way up)
Pheonix slammed on the brakes, as he saw something strange. The portal... Was impossible to reach!
"NO!" he yelled, slamming his fists on the steering wheel. "Whoever created these tracks... There's always been a way out... ALWAYS! Why would THIS be any different!?" he said, looking around.
Then he spotted something. Along the deck, there weren't aircraft... Well, that's not true. They were aircraft, but they weren't. There was no cockpit... instead, there was a ramp leading up to a spot large enough for a vehicle to fit in. He could hear the Drone vehicles about to come onto the deck. He backed into one of the "Aircraft", and the ramp formed into the nose of the craft. He cautiously pressed the accelerator. The vehicle jerked forward, and Pheonix sighed. This was gonna take some work... You can't fly a plane with a steering wheel... Then he noticed something else: The catapault system! It led right to the portal! So Pheonix carefully lined his vehicle up with the catapault system, all too aware the drones were coming... Artemis was following his lead.. And the catapault launced the two racers (One, then the other) into the portal!
((At this point in the story, I would like to note that there are several fundamental differences between this Verse and the Acceleracers one. The lack of EDRs, for one. So the next part isn't an error. No bugs, only features.))
The craft skid across the floor of the Acceledrome, finally coming to a stop when it's wing punctured a wall. The accelecharger materialized in front of Pheonix, with a blue backing and a ship on it. Pheonix grabbed it and sighed... Another race survived... For him, at least.
Artemis' craft slid across the floor as well, puncturing the wall a distance away from Pheonix's. They both got out and Artemis sighed.
"Now, how're we gonna get the cars outta those?" He said.
"Heh... Oh, right. Better clear out, Wolf'll be through any time now." Pheonix said, walking off to the meeting room that had a view of most of the 'Drome...
About ten minutes later, Wolf came through the portal with Grigori...
(Wow, long chapter! I had fun doing this one! -Wolf Kazumaru)
