Team Omelette du Fromage
Two months ago in the town of Surton in southern Gasmea
Daniel pops his head through a doorway were the sound of grinding and hammering is erupting from and knocks on the doorframe. “Excuse me young man!” he asks in a mock old lady voice, “can I have you keep it down?” Thomas pulls up his safety goggles and smiles. “Ha-ha, very funny mate. What’s up dude?” “Not much man, what you up too? I could hear all this commotion from down the street.”
“Yeah, it’s good you have neigbors who like you!” a voice taunts from outside as a woman enters the garage. “Oh, hi Astrid,” Thomas replies, his face getting a little red, “I didn’t know you were home from university. Uh, you guys a drink?” He walks over to a beat up old fridge and pulls out a couple of sodas, tossing them to the twins. “Er, yeah, sorry if I was being a bit loud,” Tom says between gulps. “Have you two every heard of the Krongrad or Bust rally?”
“Krongrad? Isn’t that way over in Archana?” Astrid pipes. “Yeah! Well, there’s this rally for banger cars that travels like a 1000 miles to there, starting over in Fruinia.”
Daniel raises an eyebrow and glares at his friend from over his soda bottle. “Okay, and…?”
“I’m building a car for it. Remember my uncle Marc, lives over by Springvale? Well, he bought a new car about a month ago and offered to give me his old Hyensu. It be perfect for this!”
“And getting a free car means making power tool house beat music?” Astrid asks imply. “What? N-no, I wasn’t making…what?” Thomas stammers, clearly confused. “No, I was making a roof rack for it. See, you get to modify the car to help tackle the journey. Like, a big part of the rally isn’t going to be on the road. Going through the mud and sand and rocks or whatever. So you need prep the car to handle all that, right? And because I’m getting this car for free, we can blow the whole budget making it a monster.”
“We?” Daniel asks.
“Er, yeah! The entries are like a team thing, right? I meant to call you about it but I got a bit side tracked.” Thomas turns to Astrid, looks down at his feet before bashfully replying, “You could come with as well. If, you know, you don’t have anything better to do or whatever. Like, the entry fees go to charity and stuff. It would be pretty cool.”
Daniel stares at the bottle in his hand, spinning it in his palm as he thinks. “You know what, yeah! It’s not like I’ve got much else planned for this summer. And this would be a nice break from work. I’ve been busting my butt down at the hardware store all year.” A grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, I’m in!” The boys click their bottles and take a swig.
“So, Astrid, what ya say?” She gives Tom a questionable look. “I not really like you two, I don’t know all that much about cars.” Thomas rubs the back of his neck and replies, “Well, you don’t really need to. You could leave that to us, if you want. Or we could, you know, teach you how or whatever…Besides, you’re good at logistics and stuff! You were always the one helping us plan out our escapades growing up. Don’t you want to have a little fun before you have to head back to school? What do you say? It’ll be an adventure!”
Daniel rolls his eyes and groans. “What?” Thomas asks his friend innocently. Astrid lets out a chuckle. “Sure, I’m in. Someone has to keep you two outta trouble!”
“Awesome! This is gonna be like, the greatest summer ever! Right, so let’s get down to it! I think I have some extra goggles and gloves and stuff around here somewhere…”
a week before the rally start
The teams Hyensu Harmony is looking pretty mean. It’s been jacked up with big offroad tires, storage racks on the roof and trunk, and a big bush guard up front. Astrid is finishing up painting the numbers while Thomas and Daniel are poking about under the hood, discussing power upgrades.
“We already have this sports air filter and upgraded fuel injectors, right? So hear me out, we could get a tube header for it.” “Come on man, were the heck would we get a header for a Hyensu? Is there even such a thing?” “Oh, that’s the beauty of it, right? The engine in this is basically a Ryuji 1.7 liter, yeah? It’s the same thing they used in Goemon sport coupes. Finding one would be easy!”
Overhearing this, Astrid comments, “Wait, did you say this has a 1.7 liter engine?” “yeah,” Thomas replies, “they’re a good motor. Reliable, efficient, can make good power.” She puts her hand on her hand and scoffs. “You two do know that the rules state that the car is supposed to be a 1.2 liter, right?”
Daniel and Thomas look around the hood and stare at their third teammate like deer in the headlights. Thomas let’s out a nervous laugh. “You’re joking right? Ha-ha, you got us Astrid. Good one!”
“No, I’m not joking. Here, take a look for yourself.” She pulls out her phone, bringing up the rally’s website and hands it over.
“Oh.”
Daniel walks over to the old sofa in the corner of the garage, his hands over his head. “What the hell, man!? How did you miss that?” “Hey, you missed it too smart guy!” Thomas retorted hotly, “You can’t place the blame for this on me!” “Weeks of work, thrown completely down the drain. Thanks Tom! No, really thanks a lot!”
“Oh, knock it off you two. You’re acting like children,” Astrid sneers. “So is there nothing we can do? Couldn’t you, I don’t know, turn it into a 1.2 liter?” Thomas shakes his head, staring down at the engine. “No, you can’t. It doesn’t really work that way. You could swap in another one, but I don’t think there’s anything smaller that would work. Even if there was, I don’t know if we’d have the time to do it.”
“So you’re saying that’s it? Even though we have already sent in our fees and took the time off and everything? Is there nothing we can do?”
“No, we’re boned,” Daniel pipes up, “Gah! We were soo close! Man…so much for our awesome summer trip.” Astrid contemplates for a moment before saying, “…could we not just find another car? One that is eligible to run?” Daniel rolls his eyes. “Oh, don’t be so silly sis! You want us to just buy some random car and drive a 1000 miles through the desert or whatever? What have you been smoking?”
“Well, why not? We’ve got everything set up. Why not try?”
“…yeah. Yeah! Why not?” Thomas glances over to the twins, a sparkle in his eye. “I mean sure, it’s a dumb idea. Really dumb. But what do we have to lose? We could find some hooptie off Fru-bay or what ever, pick it up on the way to the rally start, fix what ever is wrong with it, and send it! It’ll be an adventure!”
Daniel stares at the others for a moment before rolling his eyes. “You’re both off your rockers, man. Grade A loonies.” He stares up at the ceiling for a moment. “Whatever, if you can find us a car, I’ll do it. You got us into this mess sherlock, you can get us out.” “Don’t worry dude, it’ll all work out fine!”
two days before the rally start, in the small coastal Fruinian town of Villa Solario
The trio exit the train station, were their new ride is waiting in the parking lot. “See!” Thomas states, “Here’s our new ride. And you doubted me. What do ya think?”
“I think we’re gonna die.”
“I think it’s cute,” replies Astrid.
“See? Astrid’s on board! It’s an 1982 CESMA Colombe 1.2 Copine! It’ll be great! Small, comfy, economical. Has a cool, fullsize sunroof and has only done 109 thousand miles.”
“It’s two colors, mate. And is that rust?” “Er, yeah, the ad said it had been in a minor crash. And I’d like to see you in this good of shape when you’re in your mid 30’s mate.”
“Whatever,” Daniel rolls his eyes, “It’S aN aDvEnTuRe, right?” “That’s the spirit!” Thomas gives his friend a nudge with his elbow. We have a little bit of time before we need to set off. Should be enough for us to prep it a little, you know? Give it that personal touch. Astrid, would you mind painting the numbers again? I have a rattle can in my pack somewhere…"
“Krongrad or bust!”
