Chapter 7
“And the Voyager screeches past its opponent, snatching the lead for the third time folks, Johnny Victoris leaves the Shadow Wolf to eat his dust!” The sports announcer cheered.
There were two laps left in the farce of a race and Johnny was having the best time with the Voyager. It barely made a sound as he guided it down a curve at top speed and cruised all the way. DRIFTERS had succeeded in making an unbeatable vehicle but in the process, Johnny feared they’d taken out the challenge in racing.
A tone rang in his ear and an icon of Agent Nadim appeared in the corner of his helmet’s HUD. The call picked up automatically and Nadim’s voice cracked through the well-paced silence of the last two laps.
“Take it easy with the showcase, Johnny, we don’t want to upset our hosts too much, got it?”
Johnny clenched the steering wheel, feeling the Voyager grip the asphalt like a vice as he slung it around another bend. The inertia tugged at his body, pressing him hard into his seat, but the car held steady—too steady. No slip, no grind, just perfect execution. Almost too perfect.
“Isn’t the point of this whole thing to show how fast the Voyager can go, how better it is than any other car?” Johnny said, rolling his eyes.
“The point is to show the world what our Dimensional Drive can do, this isn’t about a race, it’s about the future and you’re stalling around it with your antics!” Nadim growled.
“Nnrrnn,” Johnny strained, swivelling the Voyager to the right, bend, turn, left and another tight bend before gasping for relief and yelling right back at Nadim, “What antics? I’m winning aren’t I!”
“Stay winning then. Stop swapping last place with Brandon only to swoop in at the last second to steal it back. Three times is enough, anymore is too childish. Just leave him in the dust and concentrate on meeting the Dimensional Drive’s launch requirements from now on, understood?”
Johnny grunted an affirmative and Nadim’s caller icon disappeared from the HUD. Agent Nadim was right, it was childish baiting Brandon the way he was. Johnny had always known the Voyager would be faster, stronger and steadier to handle than any car, derby or otherwise. Putting a vehicle made for Dimensional travel wasn’t ever going to be fair. Johnny knew all of this on paper but he didn’t know for certain until he and the Voyager shared a starting line with Brandon’s Lincoln.
Once he’d heard the Shadow Wolf’s engine roar and seen Brandon’s mocking visage, Johnny decided he’d treat the race just like any other they would have had were he still a part of Banzai Bangers.
And he did but it wasn’t fun or satisfying winning the first lap without ever once having Brandon grinding up his rear, trying to topple or shove him into an out of control swerve. The Voyager was simply so powerful that the gap between Johnny and Brandon could be a lap long if he wanted.
But if winning completely was already a guarantee, then the race didn’t feel well run, it didn’t feel earned. And so Johnny decided to give Brandon as many chances as he could to beat him, to compete and not simply participate.
Guess that’s over now, sorry Brandon, you don’t win this time. No matter what. Johnny thought, feeling a little sad for his old rival but he couldn’t deny a sliver of mirth erupting in his chest when he imagined how frustrated the dark-furred Convar would be trying to catch up with the Voyager.
Maybe one last taunt. Johnny began convincing himself. A full payday for all the times he’s been mean and difficult. There were many instances he could recall but none were be as memorable for Johnny as this would.
First, Johnny had to slow down. He took his foot off the pedal and cruised along the track slow enough that Brandon pulled up in view of his mirrors not too long. In seconds he was roaring to surpass the Voyager but Johnny had other plans. Keeping the Voyager neck and neck against Brandon’s Lincoln, he wound his window down and waved.
Brandon had eyes for nothing but the road ahead of him though, an unusual behaviour as far as Johnny knew. He takes every chance to yell, berate and undermine me, usually anyway. But this Brandon hadn’t so much as glanced over, his teeth were mashed together and grinded in intense concentration that Johnny wondered if losing to the Voyager might be the one thing more enraging to Brandon than Johnny’s own existence.
I need to get his attention. Rub this final overtake in as much as possible. Johnny schemed, his mind quick at work formulating a plan. He smirked and quickly wound his windows, sparring his helmet the battering of high speed winds as no matter how hard he yelled out his voice would only be drowned in their gales. Beyond that, his helmet was a tight, padded fit and would easily muffle any sound he made, it was already a challenge breathing and talking to Nadim and the pit crew.
Fortunately, that didn’t mean Johnny was out of options. He let his foot off the pedal and let Brandon steal the lead a fourth time, giving the sinister Shadow Wolf a false hope of victory once more. “Computer, uh, I mean Albert!” Johnny called.
Lights twinkled across his dashboard, his HUD lit up entirely as a 3d image of a blue ball appeared atop it, “Yes, Johnny, what can I do for you?”
Mildly freaked out, Johnny cleared his throat, “I want to talk to Brandon, he should have a radio in that hunk of junk at least, get me its frequency!” He demanded before pausing to clarify, “You can do that, can’t you?”
“Yes, Johnny, I was developed to reach out to many radio frequencies across vast distances for the Dimensional project, communication won’t be a problem.”
“Yeah he was!”
“Cole? What are you doing in my ear?” Johnny asked, startled to hear his friends voice so suddenly.
“I built it duh and we’re patched into your comms for the duration of this mission. No contact is bad news so be careful what buttons you fool around with, can’t afford to go offline.”
“Oh, so can you patch in Brandon’s radio frequency then?” Johnny’s soft grunts of effort and precision as he maneuvered the Voyager after Brandon filled the static silence for a moment before Cole spoke up again.
“Nadim’s going to be mad I’m helping you mess with Banzai Banger’s star but you’ve told me how much of an ass he’s been and Nadim’s out schmoozing with higher-ups and investors so, there.”
A file icon blipped in Johnny’s HUD for a split second before Albert unpacked it and said, “Connecting you to Brandon’s frequency now, Johnny.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The moment the connection was made Johnny floored his gas pedal, the Voyager jolted forward, accelerating towards the Shadow Wolf once again.
“Damn it!” Johnny heard Brandon yell, no doubt cursing the return of the Voyager in his mirrors.
Savouring it, Johnny smirked and pulled theVoyager beside Brandon’s Lincoln as they raced down the circuit, “Hey there, Brandon. Having as fun a time as I am?”
“W-what, you! How did you get…ugh, just get out of my way!” Brandon roared, finally looking over at Johnny, his eyes a blaze of hatred Johnny never felt so happy to see.
Cackling, Johnny stopped holding back and pushed forward, sending the Voyager soaring past Brandon with ease, “Catch me if you can, Shadow Wolf!”
“Arrggh! You think you’re some hot shot because you’ve got some tech car now? No! You don’t beat me, this doesn’t count! A real racer would use a car like mine! You couldn’t beat me in a regulation-!”
“Oh come off! I beat you two months ago! I beat you in just about every race we ran together Brandon, that’s the real reason you hate my guts so much! Just say it, own it! This has never been about Charles or me saving your life. You just don’t like to lose and you do it every time I’m involved.”
Silence. Then static crackled before Brandon’s growl came through. “Shut up, Victoris!” Johnny gasped, surprised at how quickly Brandon’s Lincoln surged after his rear, “You’re not the only one with new tricks!”
For all he raged Brandon immediately attempted one of his too old tricks. He veered hard to the side, trying to hook Johnny’s rear bumper and send me into the wall. The impact barely registered. The Voyager held firm, absorbing the blow like it was nothing.
Another hit—this time from beneath. Johnny’s stomach tensed as he felt the weight shift, Brandon trying to lift his rear wheels off the ground. But the chassis didn’t so much as groan. The Shadow Wolf was throwing everything he had and none of it was working.
Johnny didn’t need to see him to know what was coming next. The telltale roar of an engine pushed past its limits, the reckless twitch in his movements—Brandon was desperate now. Johnny braced himself as Brandon lunged, but he’d had enough of this tantrum. Time to put an end to this.
Johnny flicked the wheel, clipping Brandon’s Lincoln at just the right angle. The impact rocked through his frame as Brandon’s vehicle spun out, tires howling in protest, smoke pouring from the tossed hood like a dying beast exhaling its last breath. His speed plummeted, his engine choking on the damage.
Johnny exhaled, leveling his voice. “This is what happens when you let pride keep getting in the way, Brandon, we could’ve been...doesn’t matter.”
Johnny let out a tired sigh. “That was dumb.”
“Not as satisfying as you thought, was it? Being the jerk I mean.”
“Hey!” Johnny started to protest but he quickly gave that up, “no, you’re right. It doesn’t feel good either.” He glanced at Brandon’s smouldering Lincoln struggling to stay in the race and felt a pang of guilt skewer his chest. “I could have ended things cleaner, I should have never given into my impulses.”
“Glad you see that now but hope you also see we’re ready for the test. Activate the Dimensional Drive once you turn up on the next lap.” Cole said.
“Roger roger.” Johnny said, still feeling down from his own actions. Messing around with Brandon was the last thing he expected would happen in this race but here he was, full of regret for doing something the damned Shadow Wolf has had coming for years.
If it was deserved then why do I still feel so shitty? Johnny didn’t have an answer but it was just him, the Voyager and the race track. He allowed himself to cruise, relax and sulk in his emotions as he drove towards the finish line, once he crossed it, he’d activate the Dimensional Drive and show the world the new frontier of space.
The finish line came sooner than ever and with it the sports announcers excited voice shattered the relative silence the Voyager afforded Johnny, “And now, with Brandon the Shadow Wolf of Banzai Bangers out of the race DRIFTERS is ready to show the world what else their Voyager is capable of.”
“That’s your cue, Johnny, ramp up to full speed and then when I tell you, activate the drive with the blinking purple button next to your dash.” Cole instructed as he had a hundred times over in the mock practices they’d forced him to attend before the event.
“Roger rog-” the words hung unsaid as Johnny scrutinized a flash of movement up ahead on the track. His eyes narrowed and as he approached he quickly recognized it as engine smoke.
Then, bursting out of the smoke and at him was Brandon’s crashed and battered Lincoln. Eyes wide as saucers Johnny swiftly maneuvered out the way in time for the vehicle to blaze past, scratching the chassis but doing little to no damage to the Voyager. However, as a heavy thud reverberated through the Voyager from the roof, Johnny knew Brandon was loose.
There was a tumbling of movement atop the roof as Johnny drove, his mission to reach 188mph pending and Cole barking in panic in his ears wasn’t helping. “Brandon! What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’ll die!”
As Johnny began to slow down Brandon’s movement atop the roof became erratic and loud, before he knew what was happening a fist was punching at his passenger window. “Brandon!”
Derby cars used soft, plexi-glass windows as part of the sport and the Voyager, capable of mimicking all vehicles complied with that change. But it wasn’t going to do Johnny any good now.
The Voyager’s plexi-glass could only withstand four of Brandon’s maddened punches before imploding inwards. The Shadow Wolf wasted not a second tossing himself in the moment it did, ignorant of the glass shards stabbing into him or the increasing speeds Johnny was driving across the circuit at.
“Damn it, Brandon! You lo-” A fist to the face shut Johnny up, his helmet only saving him from the true sensation of Brandon’s fury.
Brandon’s clawed hand reached over, grabbing at Johnny’s collar to plant solid punches. “What the hell?!” Johnny jerked the wheel, trying to shake him off.
Brandon’s snarl was inches from his face. “You don’t get to win this time, Victoris!”
“Johnny what’s happening? Is Brandon in the Voyager with you? You have to get him out Johnny, Johnny? Johnny!”
Albert, the onboard AI, took over steering as Johnny wrestled against Brandon’s grip. The struggle was tight, chaotic, each movement threatening to send the car into a tailspin. Then Brandon’s claws found Johnny’s throat, squeezing tight.
“Are you choking? What is happening? Someone get me a visual on his HUD now!”
Cole and the pit crew continued to scramble, far from helping Johnny though he hoped dearly they’d find a way to. Brandon’s claws dug deep in his neck that blood trickled, the Convar grasped and clenched, his teeth just as tightly locked as his grip around Johnny’s throat and those eyes full of murder and madness the Shadow Wolf was always accused of. Johnny saw it first hand now, literally.
Choking, slapping and elbowing Brandon, Johnny continued to struggle when Albert the AI chirped, “Reaching required velocity for Dimensional Drive.” Johnny’s air choked eyes widened even further at the implications; if it turned out that Albert could activate it because he was on auto-pilot right now then…
“Johnny! Hit the button under your helmet! At the back, the back!” Cole called out desperately to him. Johnny gave up trying to pry the Convar’s stronger claws from his throat and hurriedly searched for a button at the back of his helmet, each breathless second fueling his and Cole’s desperation.
“Die already Victoris!” the Shadow Wolf seethed.
Not…likely! With a press of a button Johnny’s Lonsdaleite armour snapped as it expanded around him. A pulse of energy surged through the material, and Brandon’s claws snapped against it like brittle glass. Shards flew in every direction, some embedding into the windshields, steering and even roof—but the worst landed in the Voyager’s dimensional drive.
A violent shudder rattled the Voyager, the very first turbulence Johnny experienced in it. Red, glaring warning lights flared and Albert’s monotone voice cut through the compounding chaos.
“Critical malfunction. Dimensional drive compromised..D-dimensional Drive activated.”
Johnny barely had time to react before a blinding light engulfed them. The world around him twisted, reality itself bending as the compromised drives activated. The last thing Johnny saw was Brandon’s wide-eyed shock before an explosion of energy ripped them from the track and into the unknown.