Chapter 4 - Tokyo Chase
A pack of modified cars rolled toward the gas station where Vance’s crew had stopped. The sharp whistle of turbochargers announced their arrival.
At the front, a midnight-purple JZX100 Chaser idled low, its engine rumbling. The driver, Kaito, blipped the throttle—flames popping from the exhaust.
Vance’s crew burst out of the gas station’s convenience store to meet them.
“Ooo… what do we have here?” Kaito drawled.
A green S13 slid in behind the Chaser. Nina leaned out her window.
“A bunch of newbies driving on our turf!”
A white EK9 pulled up alongside them. Reiji sighed.
“Ahh… you guys really shouldn’t have…”
Vance stood in front as Mikey and Cipher huddled behind her.
“What do you want?”
Kaito’s gang stepped out of their cars and made their way toward them.
“For you guys to get lost!” Nina shouted.
“Leave our territory or prove that you belong here,” Kaito elaborated.
“Prove, how?”
“You. Run. Me in the Chaser chases you. We play this song–”
Kaito played Back on the Rocks on a boom box.
“Hey, I know that song!” Cipher beamed.
“Shush,” Vance dismissed him.
“So– If I don’t lose sight of you by the time this song ends, you lose.”
“Lose what?”
Nina pointed at the RX-8.
“I like that red car over there.”
Reiji pointed at the GR GT.
“I'll take the sick looking one then.”
“If you lose, we’ll take both of your cars and you’ll be kicked out of this place.”
Nina and Reiji are arguing in the background while Vance and Keito are talking.
“Are you saying my car ain’t cool?”
“No…Yes–”
Nina and Reiji wrestled.
“What if we win?” Vance continued.
“You decide.”
“We can use either car?”
Kaito smirked.
“Sureee…either one.”
“Hey, how can you claim territory? This entire district is abandoned—everywhere’s fair game!” Cipher sprung up.
Kaito tilted his head slightly. “Then why do you think the fuel pumps still work, my dude?”
Cipher fell silent.
Kaito smirked.
“Then we’ll take the gas station as ours including the fuel,” Vance said.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
Vance got into her GT GR and tried to start it. Click– silence.
Nina and Reiji giggled.
“And also help fix the car…”
“Alright, we are chasing the RX-8 then! Who got the keys?”
Mikey pulled out his keys.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“You runnin’, kid.”
“What! We can still choose our drivers, can’t we?” Cipher asked.
“Let Mikey drive” Vance didn’t flinch.
Kaito laughed with pleasure.
“You heard her, kid!”
Mikey slid into the RX-8 and turned the key. The rotary barked to life—brap brap brap. Kaito leaned in, dropped a boombox onto the passenger seat, and slammed the play button.
Back on the Rocks blasted through the speakers.
“Run.”
A high pitch wail of the RX-8 revving to 9k filled the empty streets like a chainsaw .
“Yeahh! This will be fun!” Nina grinned.
Kaito leisurely got into his car and lightly tapped the gas pedal to check if the growling dragon was awake. The turbo fluttered as confirmation. Kaito drifted the Chaser out of the gas station in style.
Gunshot-like cracks burst from the Chaser’s exhaust as it reeled the RX-8 in, the echoes ricocheting through Tokyo’s empty streets.
Mikey checked his rear-view mirror– the Chaser was closing in.
Damn it, I can’t outrun him in a straight line!
Kaito hummed to the music playing from the RX-8’s boombox.
“Go ahead and get on the express way! You will definitely lose me there!” Kaito laughed to himself.
The chorus screamed about leaving town and coming back stronger.
Back on the rocks, baby!
Mikey noticed a multi-level parking structure.
No– I can’t go there yet, he will block me from escaping!
Mikey heard tires scream as he wrestled the RX-8 through the tight hairpin.
But it wasn’t his.
The Chaser swung out from behind. The inline-six beast growled.
The beat kicked in, a voice demanding focus—stay sharp, stay steady.
They entered an alley of the old red light district.
Mikey weaved through the narrow streets, slowly losing Kaito.
“Ahh…so you think my car is big and heavy and you are exploiting that…” Kaito realized.
Kaito worked both pedals—left foot feathering the brake, right foot steady on the throttle—using the braking force to pivot the car through the tight alley.
Mikey glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw the heavy Chaser dancing its way back toward him.
“Back on the rocks, back on the rocks, baby…” Kaito hummed.
The chorus shifted, the singer bragging about reaching the very top and daring anyone to say they’d ever stood that high.
Mikey took a u-turn drift, heading back in the direction of the gas station.
Vance was viewing the action from afar.
“The kid won’t slip-drive his way out of this.”
“It was your call, Vance… But I know Mikey wouldn’t give up that easily.”
Nina pointed at the RX-8.
“Look! Look! He’s coming back already, he’s basically admitting defeat!”
“Can I get the cool car now…?” Reiji asked.
Kaito and Mikey battled into a long, wide corner. Kaito noticed Mikey’s unusual technique.
“Huh… his tires are not smoking, but he’s turning as if he is oversteering.”
Mikey kept driving toward the gas station.
“Hah…it doesn’t matter, this chase is already over.”
The RX-8 flew past the gas station and the Chaser quickly followed.
“Yoooo!” Nina cheered.
Mikey dove into the multi-level parking structure he spotted earlier.
“Huh? What?” Kaito tilted his head.
He slammed on the brakes and followed Mikey inside.
The RX-8 shot straight toward the circular ramp spiraling upward.
He wouldn’t…
Mikey flicked the wheel and threw the car into a drift, tires screaming as he carved into the tight spiral.
Kaito’s jaw dropped.
He followed a second later, realizing the song was about to end.
But the Chaser was too long to drift cleanly up the ramp. He had no choice but to crawl upward like a commuter.
Sweat beaded on Kaito’s forehead as he crept past each level, chasing the sound of the rotary above.
The last beat dropped. He still couldn’t see Mikey’s rear bumper.
This kid… is good
The red RX-8 sat on top of the parking building uncontested. Its metal exhaust pipes were ticking as they cooled.
The moon illuminated the Forefront tower. Jett lay on his bed, staring blankly at a ceiling.
His phone rang. Nexi was calling.
“Champ, what’s up?” Jett greeted her.
“It’s late, were you awake? Did I accidentally wake you up?”
“I was deeeep asleep until the phone rang.”
“Oh! I’m sorry, dude!”
“Nahh… I’m just kidding…I’ve just been staring at the ceiling. I just noticed how white it really is…”
“…I’m in the area. Wanna go for a drive?”
“I don’t have my car, dad is ‘borrowing’ it.”
“You can just hop in mine. Passenger princess.”
Jett took a long ride down the Forefront tower’s elevator.
Nexi parked her futuristic sleek Nexon commuter in front of the tower.
“That was quick,” Jett commented.
“That’s cause I’m the quickest.”
Jett rolled his eyes and got in the car. Nexi began to drive.
“Where are we going?”
“No where in particular, just needs to clear my head.”
“…Yeah. I need this too. It has been a tough week.”
A quiet pause. Streetlights glided across their faces.
“So… did you finally defy your dad and force yourself back in the race seat?”
“Nope, haven’t seen him.”
“Did he know you left the hospital already?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. He probably doesn’t either.”
“It’s not like you to not wanna race.”
“I did get into a race seat. I snuck onto the track this morning. It was… awful.”
“What? Why?”
“The driving, Nex… it was boring.”
Nexi frowned a little– not mad, just disappointed.
“Hmm…I need to show you something.”
Nexi drove to the outskirts of the financial district. She parked in front of a warehouse lot.
“Hmm, what is this?”
“My hidden stash, a place to store my booties.”
Nexi opened the garage door to reveal a Riviera Blue 1989 Porsche 911.
Jett’s face brightened up.
“Isn't this the old car we played on the sim? Isn’t this illegal?”
“Legally? Guilty. Ethically? Innocent.”
Jett inspected the pristine condition ancient Porsche. Nexi got in and shook the shift knob.
“My family has been keeping and restoring this car for many generations…it's like an heirloom of some sorts.”
Nexi started the 911 up, the mature and iconic flat-six rumbled. Mechanical tickings and small but noticeable vibrations reminded them that this analog machine was not built in their era.
“Let’s go, Blue jay…” Nexi told the car.
They exited the garage in the 911.
“Is this thing fast?” Jett asked.
“Not as fast as our race cars.”
Nexi gave it some gas and the car responded with unrestricted induction noise and unapologetic crackles
“But it’s alive.”
They sped through winding roads.
The car cornered at half the speed of their corporate race cars, but it prompted Jett grab the handlebar tightly. Jett smiled at Nexi.
“This thing is exciting,” Jett said.
Nexi smiled back.
They kept driving—not to impress anyone. Not to win. Just for themselves.
