Fair warning, the next several parts will be less violent and will have more of a Drama theme/genre to it. Don't worry though, as soon as the 2210 FX400 season kicks off, everything will be back to its violent, dark themes. Nothing can be dark all the time.
The referenced album title of Part 6.0 was Big Sounds of the Drags by Junkie XL
[Part 7.1] Battle for the Year
<22091231>
Sunday, December 31st, 2209
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
22:59:45
It was nearly time to open the envelope Gelorum gave Brandon. Knowing the steps Crinale took to attempt to destroy Angelus, he had it analysed for materials used to make letter bombs. Fortunately, no such materials were found, so it was perfectly safe to open...
December 31st, 2209; 23:00
Brandon Smith,
Tonight, we will end it all, 2210 will be a new year, a new change. The 2210 FX400 season is fast approaching, and it will be one of the greatest seasons ever. For now, however, we will have a race, to celebrate the new year, and to see who has the greatest skill.
I hereby challenge you to a street-race. We will pit your modified Angelus Razer.X against my reborn Katana Havok. This race will contain no weapon use at all, as road cars cannot utilise such technology. We will race from your headquarters up to and around Omega Harbour. The first one across the finish line of Omega Harbour will become victorious over all.
The race will start at 23:45. I will be there at 23:40 sharp. If you are not out and ready to race by 23:45, I will blow up your headquarters. You cannot back out now.
In 2210, Everything Changes.
Yours Sincerely,
Alexandra Gelorum.
Brandon was beside himself with the mention of such outdated technology.
"The Havok? That old thing was discontinued on Q3, 2198! Even then, the car had an 11 year run! It's outdated as hell! What, does she think she can beat me with it just because it's a Katana-era car... no, wait. She said it was 'reborn'. With an old thing like that, I think she meant that it was rebuilt with new parts."
After making some final adjustments to his Razer.X, Brandon sat outside the building in his car, until he saw the all too familiar black supercar with neon-green lights pull up near the building. The phone of his onboard multifunction device rang.
"23:40, on time, I see, Gelorum." Brandon answered.
"Am I not always?" Gelorum inquired.
"I guess? Anyway, I have to ask, what's with..."
"This old Katana?" She interrupted, "It always was mine. I maintained it, upgrading it where needed. I have now upgraded it to equal your newer Razer.X. However, I know every last detail of this thing, I know exactly how it handles, how it reacts. I can push it up to its true limits and not lose control of it. I can and will destroy you with this old 2198 Katana Havok."
"I guess we'll just have to see if you can 'destroy' me with that, now won't we?"
The two cars moved to the currently red traffic lights, side by side, at 23:45 exactly.
"We go when the lights turn green." Gelorum informed Brandon.
As soon as the traffic lights displayed its bright green light, both cars took off at top speed.
The cars took a while to get up to their top speed, as they were road cars, not FX400 league racers. Also, because of that, the top speeds were not that quick, with the Razer.X maxing out at 457km/h, slightly slower than Venom speed. The Havok maxed out at an even slower speed, 443km/h. The roads of Perth were, of course, not suitable for racing, as they were public roads. This meant that, along with the sluggish controls of the heavy road cars, Brandon and Gelorum would have to slow down considerably for each corner, lowering their average speed by a massive amount.
Another layer of difficulty arose at that point too: traffic. Even though it was nearly midnight, there was a large amount of traffic in the city, as it was New Years Eve, so everyone wanted to see the fireworks for the new year. The two cars sped along the road, gaining speed each second, swerving around the traffic, even opting to fly right above it.
"Stupid peasants, out my way," Brandon could hear Gelorum mumble, "Who knew it would be this busy at this time?!"
"It's New Years Eve, of course it'd be busy 10 minutes before the new year!" Brandon replied.
"Rhetorical question, Smith!" Gelorum snapped angrily, realising Brandon heard her, "It was not for you to answer!"
She then turned, smashing into the rear half of Brandon, who took the opportunity to control the resulting spin and slipped into a road that would meet up with the main route.
"I can track you down, you better not be running away!" She said, turning into a different road.
"Do you think I'd be that stupid?" Brandon replied, taking the final turn of the detour and sliding back on the main road, several meters in front of Gelorum, who could only give a flat "What, how?"
"My dear Alexandra, even I don't know." Brandon said.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CALLING ME ALEXANDRA?!" she yelled
"Oh, would you RELAX?! This is why I called you that, you're way too damn serious." Brandon turned onto the freeway, while Gelorum continued onwards, taking an alternate route.
Near the entry road of Omega Harbour, Gelorum continued to track Brandon, but she saw a problem.
"How is Brandon going to get to the entry point from there?" Brandon soon answered her question.
"Like this!" He yanked the steering wheel right, sharply.
The sight of the modified black Angelus Razer.X flying through the air off the freeway and over her car rendered Gelorum speechless. It was now officially a race to the end of Omega Harbour. Both cars were free to accelerate to their limits.
Eventually, they hit the first corner of the track, which they took at top speed, as the top speeds of the cars fell short of Venom speed. In fact, most corners could have been taken at top speed, the only exception was the hairpin before the 'Death Spiral'. Even then, the speed needed to take it was not that smaller than the top speed of the cars.
As soon as the cars entered the 'Death Spiral', there was a loud "CRACK!" noise, followed by electrical noises which died down after a few seconds.
"What was that?" Brandon and Gelorum asked at the exact same time.
"So, it wasn't you then?" Brandon asked before Gelorum could say anything else.
"Well, no. I understand why you would suspect me, but I swear it was not me. I have no idea what that was."
"Fine."
Since the Razer.X was faster, it had been pulling away from Gelorum's Havok, and by the end of the spiral, Brandon was a few hundred meters ahead of her. The modern supercar entered the 'Omega Complex', two corkscrew hairpins connected by a vertical Mag-Strip loop. It seemed as if the Mag-Strip wasn't working, but it soon pulled the car back onto the track. Brandon got out of the complex just in time, Gelorum, however...
ZAP!
"No, no, no, NOOOO! Please, do not fall, do not fall, do... Ohh, SHIIII--!"
[splash]
The power to the racetrack failed, the Mag-Strip no longer pulled the old supercar to the track, instead blasting a large amount of energy into the car, shutting it down. Gelorum attempted to keep her car on the track, but gravity was too strong, and it fell to the depths of the Swan River below. Alexandra Gelorum, afraid to die, started to feel, for the first time in a very long time, sorrow. Her eyes glowed a very light mist-blue, before fading away, seemingly along with her life.
"Is... is this it?
"Am I... going to die?
"Drowning, killed by a faulty piece of technology... no.
"I am just breathing underwater, I need to come up for air...
"No... I cannot drive out of here... I cannot get above the surface... I must get out...
"Damn, the door will not open, I am running out of energy...
"Not enough energy... to break the glass...
"I guess this is karma... for all the wrong... I have done...
"No... no... lights... are fading...
"This is it... I am sorry... I... I'm so, so sorry.
"Oh, God... I do not... want to... die.
"I'm... so... so sorry.
"My time... has come...
"This is... this is it... good... good...
"Goodbye."
Faster Than Angels | Part 7.1
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