_____ _// _____ ______ * Part 2 of 3 /_ / /_/ /____/ /| /__ __/ * By: adpax1105@yahoo.com // / / // //___ /|| // * Finished: January 7, 2003 / /__// /____/ //|| // * ________________________ / ___ / //___ //-|| // * _____ _______ /| / / // /____/ // ||// ____ * ---\\ __//_| |_\\__ __ |\_/ / //________________________// * -----/ \ VROOM! / \__ \__/ _//____D_R_I_V_I_N_G________/ * ---=| () |________| () |_\ "crimson star road" -----\__/ -----\__/ __________________________________________________________________ In an instant, the drivers were replaced with nothing more than dust in the wind, as they raged ferociously down the freeway... Except Ryo, who was barely managing 2mph. The four serious drivers, however, were already neck and neck with one another. K9999 slowly inched into the lead. K' growled along with the engine of his bike as he urged it to go faster, already giving it all the gas he could. Try as he might though, K9999 somehow managed to stay directly ahead of him. "What's the matter, K Trash?!" K9999 cried out over the roar of the wind and engines. "Can't keep up!? Accept the facts! You and I are just like these bikes of ours! I noticed we have the exact same make!" K's eyes darted between the two bikes. He hadn't bothered to take notice before. "But there is ONE key difference!" K9999 continued. "Your bike is an older model! Just like you! You're both outdated! You can't keep up with us!" While screaming his boastful comments, K9999 had become completely oblivious to the fact that Rock had been creeping up on him, and was now beginning to slowly pass him. This suddenly came to his attention, and his eyes turned to Rock, glaring with Rage. Rock simply smirked back. "I guess I was just born to be wild!" "Too bad you weren't born with the sense to mind your own damn business! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!" With that, K9999 swung one arm through the air. The earth directly in front of Rock's bike was suddenly thrust upward, sending him veering off to the side. As Rock struggled to keep control, K9999 cackled wildly and pointed at him. His arm suddenly began to morph, and Rock hardly had time to acknowledge the transformation with fear before the now gun-shaped arm began wildly firing, punching holes through his bike as though it were only paper. K' and Kyo stared at the scene in horror as they saw Rock's bike explode out from under him. The wreckage and Rock himself continued in motion, their inertia continuing to roll them down the freeway. They both knew how much respect Rock deserved. His life wasn't in jeapordy. It was perfectly well known, however, that that bike was quite possibly Rock's most valued possesion. The only thing that even came close to rivaling it was the hat Terry gave him. The cold K' reacted only with anger. But it struck Kyo much deeper, for he too held that sort of adoration for his bike. Likewise, only Yuki garnered more affection from him. And as he saw Rock tumbling off the freeway and onto the desert, he could swear he saw Rock already struggling to reach his beloved bike. "HEY!" Kyo yelled enraged. "You damn NESTS freak! Who in the hell do you think you are?! This is a race course, not a fighting arena!" K9999 glared over his shoulder at the supplier of his superior DNA. Kyo Kusanagi alone could draw as much hatred from K9999 as K'. With a sneer, he spat towards his foe, "A race course IS a fighting arena, you dimwit! You get lost, too!" K9999 suddenly swung his still transformed gun arm towards Kyo and K', now directing his fire towards his remaining adversaries. K' and Kyo split, each veering towards opposite sides of the freeway. To everyone's surprise, Kyo suddenly began accelerating at an insane speed, his front wheel lifting from the road as he drew towards K9999. "Kusanagi Racing Style 9471 Flame Wheelie!" Kyo cried out as he brought the front wheel of his bike down on K9999's arm. K9999 cried out in pain, but yet managed to prove that he was indeed no normal human, as through the pain he was still able to fire one last shot that tore through Kyo's front tire, sending him crashing across the desert. Again, K' was left with a look of horror on his face. As Kyo fell, his eyes met K's for only an instant. There had always been an enmity between the two, but in that moment, there was none. They both saw the same thing. This had ceased to be a battle for superiority. K' now had to defeat K49, for the honor of Rock and Kyo. As in KoF, those two truly loved the sport. For K9999, however, fighting and racing were merely more ways of flaunting his greatness. Using the off-balance moment Kyo had created, K' was able to bring himself alongside K9999. Really, it was true... Racing wasn't that much different from fighting. The same rush of adrenaline... The same need for absolute precision, as K' showed now as he brought himself alongside K9999, leaving them only breaths apart. As K9999 recovered from his bout with Kyo and turned his attention to K', K' swung his right arm back, bringing the knuckles of his red NESTS glove across the bridge of K9999's nose. "GAH!" K9999 gurgled as blood began to flow down his face. His hand covered his nose in reflex, but in a moment he'd lowered his hand, staring at the blood on it in disbelief. "You... You... You piece of TRASH!!" K9999 jerked his bike to the left, sending it straight towards K's suicidally. K' frantically tried to think of an evasive maneuver as K9999 drew ever closer, screaming, "Why are you even trying!?" At the last second, K' suddenly flipped his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket, and without a word flung them towards the wheels of K9999's bike. K9999 fought with his bike, barely avoiding them. K' shot back, "I'd rather not! But as long as morons like you keep coming after me, I don't have a choice!" With lightning reflexes, K9999 sped back towards K'. Now, his injured arm morphed once more, taking a drill form. He swiftly slashed at the tires of K's bike with this, crying out, "Shut up!" Contact was made, and K' could feel himself losing control and speed. K9999 sped forward, and K' knew there was nothing he could do. He shook his fist violently, as his anger began to boil. How could he have been so careless?! As he fought with his bike, it slowed until it came to a complete stop. K' had no words. He simply sat there, alone on the freeway, reflecting on his failure. K' stopped. A noise in the distance was steadily growing closer. Turning around, he saw Maxima speeding towards him. A look of total disbelief crossed his face. Maxima was actually DRIVING forward, using the same cybernetic modifications used to propel him forward in his System 3: Maxima Lift. As Maxima reached K', he swiftly began to remove pieces from both himself and the bike in attempts to assemble a working vehicle. "M-Maxima..." K' stuttered in awe. "Hey, don't look so grateful, Dash-man!" Maxima laughed. "It doesn't suit you! Look, I can't have you losing our team's slots to those rejects, now can I? So get going already!" In that short window of time, Maxima had somehow converted himself into some sort of motor vehicle. Whether it was safe to use or not was anybody's guess. However, at this point, K' was out of options. K9999's eyes gleamed as he saw the finish line coming into reach. Every opponent that stood even half a chance had been annihilated, and now victory was in reach. Finally, it would be settled as a fact that he was superior to K'... What the!? K9999 could scarcely believe his eyes, but regardless, he had no choice. At a speed almost double that of K9999's, K' was racing forward on some sort of bike/Maxima hybrid! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I seem to need sleep very badly, if I'm writing trash like this. It just seems so idiotically humorous to me at the moment, though. At any rate, if you've read this far, you might as well read the final chapter to see how it all ends! The next chapter of Heat Driving, Heaven's Drive!