Screw this, I can't wait any longer.

The referenced album title of Part 12.1 was Nihil by KMFDM.

And this is why the title for Part 12 is weird. I'm still sorry.

[s2_4.2: Part 12.X] <EVERYTHING//CHANGES>
<02attak_/>
<22100302>

Friday, March 2nd, 2210

Orcus, Alaska, USA

19:21:44

"What the hell do you mean, you are 'going to race'?!" Gelorum yelled, "I thought that it was I who was going to race tonight!"

"Oh, Gelorum, If only you really knew who you were messing with, and the consequences you'd face if you messed with them, we would not be having this... lovely conversation." Viktor said calmly, unfazed by Gelorum's rage. "Now if you don't mind, I have to race, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"If you lose, if you f**king lose to Angelus, you will be fired on the spot. DO YOU F**KING HEAR ME?!"

"I will not lose. It will be impossible for me to." He said simply and coldly, walking off to the grid, where the aggressive looking Prototype craft of Crinale sat.

Many changes were made to the Apollyon since its conception in 2209. Most of the changes were made in order for it to comply with the Prototype class' restrictions. The craft now contained two large jet thrusters as its main form of propulsion, but something was off about them. The ends of the thrusters were now extended, with what looked like thruster nozzles, which adjusted the diameter of the exhaust outlet, increasing thrust.

<juke joint jezebel | kmfdm_>

Viktor stepped into the craft, and started it up. A low whirring sound grew louder and more high pitched, until finally it sounded more like the other crafts. Then the countdown started.

3, 2, 1... GO!

<19:30:00_>
<orcus: black run_>
<prototype class_>
<lap 01 of 70_>

Just as the countdown hit 1, the whine from the Crinale ship suddenly grew to a very high pitch, then took off with such a high acceleration, it equalled that of Angelus. Usually, it should've took off with low thrust. The reason why it didn't, however, was obvious: The extensions to the thrusters contracted greatly, leaving the diameter of the exhaust very small, causing a large thrust output.

Naturally, anyone who knew the components of the ship and how they operated, would've been very surprised indeed.

"What. I did not know about this. WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED ABOUT THIS?!" Gelorum exploded at the technicians

"We apologise. We... sincerely apologise. We didn't mean to keep it from you, but we were blackmailed into altering the Apollyon for him!"

"HAH! Blackmailed. How, exactly?"

"Well, the thing is... he said he'd explain to everyone in due time. That he'd 'reveal' himself. But basically, he'd said he'd kill everyone we ever loved in front of us, slowly and painfully, before doing the same to us."

"Right. In any case, it does not matter. It happened, he chose to race, and now we shall see what will transpire. Personally, I hope he loses, so he can be fired... [giggle]... permanently." She forced every syllable of the last word, and said it through gritted teeth, her eyes glowing slightly.

------------

Tarah was shocked to see the Crinale craft take off with as much force as her Xygen-R25, but she didn't think much of it. Her plan was to let the heavy craft take the first corner on the inside, then she would speed past and overtake it from the outside, setting her up for the inside of the first corner of the chicane series. However, there were three people who were observing the Crinale craft. Those three people saw the same thing, and they all exclaimed the same words.

"WHAT THE F**K?!" yelled Brandon, Tarah and Gelorum.

The Crinale Apollyon had turned as if it was an Angelus ship. The left nozzle flipped outwards, and acted as an airbrake.

"Wait, with the Crinale, I can see the turbine spinning, but the thrust doesn't seem to be working. Why's that?" Tarah asked

After much thought, Brandon gave a response, "There are two thrusters, I'm assuming they're independent of one another, ergo the inlet of one jet engine must cut out when the craft turns, but the core power unit keeps the turbine spinning. It's kinda like an anti-lag system for a jet engine."

"I see... argh, this is going to be more difficult than I thought!"

Tarah could barely keep up with the Apollyon, as it's advanced, yet experimental thrust system allowed it to handle any corner with ease.

'Hey, the turbines seem to turn with the craft, they're not static!' she thought.

After a quick, sharp turn due to the track splitting up for the white and black runs, and Tarah could show the true speed of the twin-engined angel, which was so light and fast, it had to be limited to the prototype class' top speed of 1188km/h. A jump in the track allowed Tarah to barrel roll, restoring a net 10% shielding as she passed the heavy Crinale ship. Then came a tricky part. There was a 90° bank in the track, this bank was not supported by any mag-strips at all, thus all ships would be pulled to the left of the track by gravity, however, every pilot was aware of the bank, and could navigate it with little to no trouble. Crinale solved the problem by decreasing the thrust in the right turbine by a small amount, negating the dragging but slowing the ship down.

Due to the Xygen being faster than the Apollyon, Tarah gained a significant lead over Crinale, but due to the lack of boost gain via barrel rolls, Crinale caught up via two barrel rolls: one over a gap in the track, then another one over a hill, which the speed of the previous barrel roll gave them the speed to gain more than enough air to perform the second one.

"This race is OVER!" Viktor yelled, emptying an entire load of cannon ammo into the agile white speedster. However, that was not enough to eliminate Angelus.

"Hahahaha! Try again, loser!" Tarah gloated.

"Angelus will fall by my hand! The racing world will kneel before me! And the Anti-Gravity Racing League will return to it's former glory. WATCH ME WIN! WATCH! ME! DOMINATE YOU ALL!"

"I'd like to see you try." Tarah taunted.

------------

<20:14:10_>
<orcus: black run_>
<prototype class_>
<lap 67 of 70_>
<afterlife | desimal_>

It was nearly over, Tarah just had to endure three more laps of preventing Crinale passing her and she would be home free, one more win for Angelus. The first prototype race of the season, which was the third race of the 2210 FX400 season, and it already was a nailbiter. However, everything Angelus stood for would crumble to pieces, and everyone would lose, not just Australia's favourite team...

"Rrrrrggggghhhhh....




Get out of my WAY!"

Boom...

<contender eliminated_>