2022 Shitbox Rally - Out of This World! (Results Out!)

Community Challenges & Competitions
343

Team Shift Happens

Previous Chapters:

Another One Bites The Dust - Stage 2 Run / Stage 2 Campsite
Repairs / A Good Meal - Stage 2 Campsite / The Green Crystal (Written by TheYugo45GV and Madrias)
A Good Night’s Sleep? - Stage 2 Campsite
“Here Comes the Hound of Death” - Stage 2 Campsite Battle - Written by Elizipeazie, TheYugo45GV, and Madrias.
Fright Night Forest Stage - Stage 3 Run / Stage 3 Camp
The Free Day - Stage 3 Camp (written in collaboration with @Elizipeazie) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3)
Safe Arrival - Stage 3 Camp (Written in collaboration with @TheYugo45GV)
The Rescue - Stage 4 Drive and Stage 4 “Camp”
The Rebuild - Stage 4 “Camp” (Written in collab. with @Elizipeazie ) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4)
“It’s 6-Fucking-Moon!” - Stage 4 Camp

(Written in collaboration with @Elizipeazie. Thank you for helping me finish this stage’s campsite.)

10-and-40 Moon, Itzgarde Campsite

While it had been a short sleep compared to many other nights, most of the team woke up feeling refreshed, if a bit tired. Rukari opened the door on the Bricksley, being extra careful not to hit the tents or to slam the door as he got out of the truck in case anyone else wasn’t yet ready to wake up. It turned out to be unnecessary, as Kaylie and Jayde soon got out of their shared tent, sitting down on one of the logs and letting themselves wake up the rest of the way. Likewise, Kayden got out of his tent, only to trip over a large branch mid-yawn, and ended up hitting the ground with a thump and a groan.

“Belly-flops are bad enough in a pool, Kayden,” Kivenaal teased, getting out of his tent and starting a small fire to cook by. “They’re really bad when you do them in dirt.”

Kayden got up slowly and dusted himself off with a grimace, just in time for Malavera to scowl at him as he got a faceful of dirt crawling out of his tent. “Really? You roll around in the dirt and then decide to dust off by the damn tents?” Malavera said, shaking both heads.

Jayde set his cooking pan over the fire and rummaged through his bag until he found some bacon, sausages, eggs, and cheese, setting each down on a clean plate as the rest of Team RK Series Racing arrived.

Since the team had spent half the night fiercely working on converting the Anhultz DIone to be steam-powered, it was no surprise that they were sleeping very soundly, up until the first slithers of sunlight started to break through to the team members. They woke up surprisingly well-rested and went about packing up their supplies to return to camp and collect the resident giant in the process.

Though as soon as they took seat, a problem arose: Neither Constantin nor Tim truly knew how to operate the modified vehicle. They figured asking Connor wouldn’t help either, as he’d start at the very basics of how it works, killing way more time than necessary.

“Might as well push the thing, right?”, Constantin suggested. “It’s not all that far and some morning work gets your blood pumping.”
“It’s not like we have a better plan now, do we?”, Tim replied, while both of them took position behind the car with Connor at the wheel once again.

Both Constantin and Tim pushed from either rear corner of the car and managed to get it up to a decent speed initially.

As it rolls up to the camp and the Bricksley within, Tim’s left foot gets caught up in a root, followed by him being dragged the next six feet along the dirt road. Constantin immediately lets go and goes to help Tim up: “U Okay?”, he goes, getting a disgruntled nod in reply as Tim maneuvers his way right-side up and spends the better part of the next five minutes dusting himself off and cleaning off minor road-rash as best he can.

Rukari looked over at Constantin and Tim as they pushed the Dione into the camp. “Better than a 10 mile run to help wake up in the morning,” he said, looking to Constantin as he said it.

Jayde looked over and saw Constantin and Tim as they arrived, witnessing Tim getting dragged along behind the car for a few feet. “You might as well come over and join us for breakfast. We’ve already put an extra plate on for your sleeping friend, it’s no trouble at all for us to add a couple more,” Jayde said. As they approached, he scooped out the bacon from his pan, placing strips on plates as he then prepared the scrambled eggs.

Kayden saw the road rash and grimaced. “Looks like we both got to kiss the dirt this morning,” Kayden said, before grabbing a bottle and a cloth from the truck. “I’m sure you’re aware of using alcohol to clean cuts, right? This stuff’s about as strong as you can get, so it’s going to sting like hell when you use it.”

It didn’t take long for Jayde to have breakfast ready, with scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, and fresh bread ready for everyone, and cheese in the event anyone wanted it. “If anyone has a container, I’d like to set some aside for Valentin,” Jayde mentioned.

“Well thanks, i guess.”, Tim replies and grabs the bottle and cloth piece, using the two to generously clean out the scratches and bruises.

Soon after, the two join breakfast, with Constantin heading back to the car a few feet behind them to retrieve his mess kit for storage.
“It won’t keep anything warm, but at least it seals.”, Constantin comments as he returns, carrying a german-style mess kit, complete with cutlery, which is handed to Jayde as he arrives.

Valentin, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to what was happening outside due to the sound-deading spell that Jayde applied to the tent.

The two dig into their meals, not questioning as to how they procured fresh food in record-time, but they sure seemed to take a liking to what they had.

Kaylie and Kayden were both pleasantly surprised by how good the simple breakfast was, not realizing that half of the flavor was caused by Jayde cooking the bacon first and the eggs second.

Malavera had his plate empty in a matter of a couple of minutes, while Kivenaal was only a few seconds slower, being rather hungry after spending many nights not sleeping well.

Rukari ate with military efficiency, being the first one done with his meal despite being one of the last to get his plate.

Jayde, on the other hand, took his time to enjoy his food. Even then, he was done quickly, as the simple breakfast was rather easy to eat.

“Right,” Kaylie said, “we’ve gotta get our tents packed up, otherwise we’re going to be here a while.”

Both Tim and Constantin emptied their plates at a decent pace as well, though Constantin was substantially quicker, finishing just a few moments behind Rukari, while Tim took his sweet time enjoying the meal in comparison.

The two hand back their plates.
“Hot damn that was really good!”, Tim commented, while Constantin awaited the transfer of food into the container.
“Beats MRE’s by a long shot, i have to say…”, Constantin added.

Tim looked about, in search for a tent that Valentin might be sleeping in, but with the mass of tents strewn about the vicinity, he couldn’t exactly pinpoint which one it was.

Jayde realized Tim was looking for which tent Valentin was in, then prodded that particular tent lightly with his staff, simultaneously pointing out the tent and dispelling the magic he’d put over it. He then helped Constantin pack the meal into the mess kit, while Kaylie, Kayden, and Malavera got started with packing up tents and while Rukari and Kivenaal started preparing the truck.

Rukari moved things around in the truck bed to make space for their tents, as while the bed was relatively cleaned up now, it still had a tendency for things to end up where they shouldn’t go.

Kivenaal, likewise, did all the preparations he could in the cab of the truck without cranking the engine over, as he didn’t want to shower anyone with soot or wake the rest of the sleepers with their loud-ass V8.

Jayde cleaned up his cooking supplies and put them back away, extinguished his cooking fire, and grabbed a water can from the roof rack, taking a long drink from his labeled can.

With breakfast finished and Valentin’s portion safely stored, albeit cold already, they gather around Valentin’s borrowed tent and and try to figure out how to get him out of there without getting scolded at in return.

That problem solves itself, as Valentin himself opens up said tent, now staring at Tim and Constantin.
“Good morning. We need to prepare our vehicle for departure.”, Connor says from behind the other two.
“Oh… yeah i guess Robert needs greasing up.”, Valentin replies, somehow much more awake than on a usual morning, climbing out of the tent and stretching quite a bit before motioning readiness.

After that, they thank the others for their offer, not specifying what exactly was offered, and head back to the Tangerine Tank Engine.

2 Likes
344

Team Slow
Chapter 2, Part 5.1- The chickening

Whilst John went out of his way to ask Jayde, Kaylie went awake and getting whacked with a book, he didn’t realise it was 6 Moon, Matt was sitting in the car tired, waiting for John to get back before he considered leaving him behind, He sits there and tries to hide the laughter as John gets chased by a Tiger-woman trying to get clubbed with a book.

John: Matt! I Got fucking clubbed with a book! You told me to ask Jayde!

Matt: You moronic! Matt sits there trying to hide the laughter as John pulls out an excuse, I didn’t imply “go there at 6 in the god-damn morning!” You could’ve waited later!

John: But, you dont understand!

Matt: I was watching it all through the window, i am tired right now and to watch you get clubbed, to a woman is humilliating enough, just get in the fucking car before i leave you behind.

John: Atleast i got the fuckin’ car fixed!

Matt: That is a lie and a half, i had to fix it while you sat there doddling about in their tent.

John: I wasn’t doddling about!

Matt: We’ll see about that

John gets into the XL53 after the carnage, and Matt drives to our tent. “You had to do that at 6, didn’t you.”

TO BE CONTINUED

3 Likes
345

Machinas Con Passione’s Shitbox Adventures Episode 5: "GEE, IT SURE IT BORING AROUND HERE!"

While normally MCP would have some wacky and uncharacteristic shenanigans going on, unfortunately the most exciting thing to happen to them in between stages 2 and 4 were Chad punching a few dyre wolves and their feline companion, now named Bill, being given a name. Maria and Thibault are possibly discussing getting as far away from Giacomo as possible after the rally’s said and done. Mayhaps something more interesting will happen during the next few stages, eh?

Part 5 - Fin
(They are going to do something wacky and uncharacteristic during stages 5 and 6)

4 Likes
346

Good, I have been missing them.

1 Like
347

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22/7/3251 /// 7 Sun LJT

After a well-deserved day and night of rest, Black Rabbit Corp. embarked on the fourth stage of the shitbox rally. The spotless blue sky above their heads slowly faded away from sight as grand sweeping curtains of white and gray cumulonimbus monoliths rolled in, bringing with them yet another warm wind that grew stronger as the hours fell away. It was nearly twice as long as the previous stage, but the two girls were more than willing to accept this tradeoff if it meant having a peaceful, hassle-free stage to ease their nerves. As it came to pass, any preconceived notions of old, unreliable German luxury cars spontaneously combusting after their warranties expired were quickly dispelled. The Dauer flew extravagantly through most of the course without breaking a sweat or flagging the check engine light, rewarding well timed heel-toe downshifts with symphonic boxer-6 sopranos. Perhaps ‘slid’ is a finer choice of words as the dirt roads quickly became muddy when the rain started to fall, significantly hampering their pace in some areas due to having only two driven wheels and hard compound tires ill-suited for loose, wet surfaces. 4WD vehicles, Team Gearknob’s Carica included, flew by the Dauer despite having half as much power or weighing three times as much, or sometimes even both.

Deep grooves of tires were bordered on either side by unsettled chunks of mud churned by the cyclone action of the other vehicles’ all-terrain tires. They too, however, would soon fade as the roads they precariously skated along saw gradually increasing amounts of gravel. With this new granular road surface, the Dauer tightly hugged the corners without misstep and Mel pushed the liveried coupe to its limits. The hard compound tires, although not the most effective compared to the all-terrain tires some other teams were running, excelled in durability and still provided excellent lateral grip reserves even with Mel’s highly aggressive braking and cornering. Their durability would later be exploited when Mel found out that handbrake turns around tighter hairpin corners allowed them to navigate such turns faster, thus occasionally breaking her calculated, precise racing lines with flamboyant slides and drifts across the entire width of the road.

Now at the campsite, Tanuki elected to take refuge in an abandoned log cabin for the night situated as far from the treeline as possible, this time on the cusp of the riverbank. It was sparsely furnished with only two empty bed frames, a table made from a log bisected lengthwise flanked by two stools, and a cast iron fireplace in the corner. Far from luxurious, but a substantial upgrade over the cramped, confined hatch area that was ill-suited for sleeping in. Outside, the Dauer’s fenders and wheel wells were caked with mud that slowly dripped off in the gently falling moisture.

Tanuki sat beside a cracked-open window through which the warm and howling wind whistled, using the gray overcast skies as a source of natural light while she cleaned her Mossberg. Her unwilling partner-in-crime was lying face down on her sleeping bag placed over one of the bed frames, either getting a quick rest or trying to smother herself.

“Not quite the vacation you were hoping for, I assume?” She quipped, stretching her arms over her head as she rolled onto her back and sat up. The wooden support beams creaked loudly under her.

“AHA HA HA HA HA! Are you kidding me?” Tanuki picked up the shotgun barrel and peeked through it to inspect for any fouling, the receiving end pointed away from her. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had!”

Melanie frowned in confusion. “This… this is fun for you? Is this just some sort of game you’re playing?!”

“Put yourself in my shoes, Meru-chan. Running a company like Black Rabbit isn’t just your typical office job! Have you ever woken up with one of your closest CO’s pointing a gun to your head or holding a knife to your throat? Or tried moving a shipment of 50 T-73B3s, trying to stay under the navy’s radar while fending off Malaysian pirates?” She leaned in. “1 Darling Park, Sydney. CommBank vault. Surely that rings a bell, doesn’t it?”

“That was you?!” Mel was astonished. A dizzying revelation, to say the least. Her ‘boss’ was full of secrets and surprises that reared their ugly heads one after another, each one with a greater capacity to leave Mel speechless or completely subvert her expectations.

Tanuki grinned devilishly underneath her facemask. “AHA HA HA HA HA HA! Turns out it’s easy to set up a front company and even easier to get idiots like Seikatsu to give you business discounts for their military trucks! They never see it coming! Ba~ka!”

“Alright, come on then. What’s next? False flag assassination op? Send us all to the Middle East for the fifth or sixth time this century? Incite thermonuclear war?” Accusatory would not sufficiently describe the posture of Mel’s question. There was almost a disbelief, even morbid curiosity motivating her interrogation.

“Nice try, Meru-chan! You think I’d just spoil my own plans?!” Tanuki’s high-pitched cackling naturally followed, as constant as the eastern rising sun. After sliding the bolt back into the receiver and the forend over the tube magazine, she reinserted the trigger assembly and twisted the barrel into place, racking the reassembled Mossberg loudly before setting it aside. “Where’s the fun in that? In my line of work, you quickly learn to never let anyone know what your next move is. That, and there’s no time to dwell over the past! You don’t get any days off or vacations! Compared to all that crap I have to deal with day after day, I’m having the time of my life!”

“What’s your end goal, Tanuki? After Black Rabbit shuts its doors down… if it ever does, heh. What then? When are you going to call it quits?” Mel asked, staring absentmindedly at the dusty ceiling of the log cabin.

“Never! Black Rabbit will remain high and mighty as a business and an institution for change!” Tanuki shot back almost immediately. “Don’t you see? It is greater than you, me, or anyone! I created it, and it is my vision, but the Black Rabbit will survive long after my time has come! It is my legacy!”

Was it her greed, her love of chaos and its ability to seemingly follow her wherever she went, or was she just batshit insane? Her very presence was a catalyst that spurred lasting, violent conflict, yet seeing her among the other teams and their equally as odd misfit members made someone of her nature blend in quite well. However, Tanuki’s confident declaration and pose would not remain so for long, and she pensively turned towards Mel, staring at her blankly.

“What?”

“… I don’t know.” The realization came to Tanuki as hesitantly and slowly as she spoke it.

“So are you telling me that one of the most infamous terrorists and war criminals doesn’t have a backup plan if everything falls through?” Mel scoffed and cocked her head back with a smirk. ”How about as a kid? Surely you had dreams back then! Did you wake up one day and just choose violence?”

“Don’t mess with me! Of course not!” Tanuki snapped, quickly returning to a state of self-rumination and unease.

“So what is it?”

“…”

“Okay, I’ll tell you my story first,” Mel offered. “My father’s a racing driver. Growing up, I helped him wrench on cars a lot. That was what got my interest! The smell of the petrol, the sound of the V8s, the colors of their liveries… my mother didn’t take it seriously at first. ‘Oh Melanie, girls shouldn’t be interested in race cars!’ If I wasn’t on the stands of the Bathurst 1000, I was watching his race live on the telly. How I wanted to follow in his footsteps and stand atop that podium, just like him! But after my father was paralyzed during an accident in qualis, that was it for me. He was only in the hospital for a few months, but all of the burns on his body… I couldn’t stand it.”

Recalling memories she left ingrained as wary, precautionary tales also resurfaced grisly images that had been suppressed for many years. She stared blankly at the ceiling as the room was enveloped in stillness, inexplicably reliving those dreaded few months that seized her with anguish and fear as she waited for her father’s recovery.

Tanuki suddenly spoke up. “…maybe we have more in common than I thought.” It wasn’t that Mel wasn’t expecting a response at all, but rather the kind of response was something that caught her off guard. What was this? A shred of sympathy from Tanuki? That couldn’t be possible, right?

“Okay, before you tell me, at least let me have a guess! Hmmmm…” Mel sat up in her bed, then squinted and intensely narrowed her focus onto Tanuki, inspecting not only the patterns in her body language and expressive mannerisms but also the way she carried her confidence, her bravado, the momentum behind every word she spoke and the shocking efficiency of her actions. Their eyes met each other for only a moment before the pair belonging to the subject of interest averted their gaze in embarrassment.

“Is there something on my face?” The usual snarkiness in Tanuki’s voice was gone. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I think you could be a great actress. No… an idol!”

The only response she got was the incessant, soft, brittle percussion of raindrops falling on the sheetmetal of the Dauer and the glass window a silent Tanuki sat beside.

“Wait. You can’t be serious?” A bewildered smirk broke the facade of her apparent seriousness.

Her silence was a wordless affirmation. Tanuki let out a deep breath and her gaze wandered outside to the river’s surface rippling with thousands of raindrops. “…my mom… she hardly talked about it when I was growing up. If ever. But I heard the stories. I saw the posters and the album covers with her name, her face. I wanted to follow in her footsteps… I wanted to be an idol.” She hopped off the window sill and sat down on the foot of Mel’s bed, still looking outside longingly. “But it’s like you said. My parents never took it seriously.”

Mel’s hands flew to her mouth and failed at holding a stifled laugh back. Tanuki swiftly slapped her across the back of the head.

“Urusai! Is this how you react when a girl pours out her feelings towards you?” Tanuki bemoaned. She glared at Mel, who pried further with a teasing grin of her own. Perhaps it was more sinister, very unusually so. “How’d you even guess that, anyways?!”

“Idols are supposed to be cute, aren’t they?”

“S- shut up! What the hell are you saying?!” Tanuki folded her arms, turning away as a rosy complexion broke out across her cheeks. As she found out, however, Mel wasn’t done yet. She tightly wrapped her arms around Tanuki’s waist, swiftly pulling the war criminal down into her bed.

“Why don’t I take that mask and find out for myself?”

As the fervor of the rain only increased, the long hours of the waning sun gave rise to the moon that creeped over the horizon from which hot winds continued to blow. After their brief squabble, Mel and Tanuki promptly finished their meals, bathed as well as the facilities available to them would allow them to, and prepared to go to sleep. All of their loose supplies were boxed if they weren’t already prepped in the Dauer in the event of another man-eating Dyre attack.

The Australian detective yawned softly and stretched, arching her back as she sat on the creaky wooden bed. A dim orange glow from the cast iron fireplace filled the cozy cabin with warm light tones that soothed her eyes. Before she would be allowed to fall asleep, however, an evolving crisis that she had experienced many times before would soon make itself known.

“Meru-chan!” Tanuki whispered with some urgency in her voice. She was digging through her luggage, searching frantically for something.

“Yes?”

“…do you have a spare bra?”

“W- what?”

“Please!” Tanuki hopped out of her bed and shuffled over to Mel’s. Although she couldn’t see behind her obscured visage, the desperation in Tanuki’s voice was more than obvious, and Mel attempted to picture her panicked face in amusement. “I’m all out and I can’t do the next stage without one! They’re really sensitive!”

“Oh for god’s- ugh! Okay, yeah, sure.” Mel reached into her luggage, fishing between neatly folded stacks of clothes and various undergarments, producing a white half-lace brassiere that dangled in front of Tanuki’s sparkling eyes. “But aren’t these a bit… big for you?”

“HUUUUUUH? What the hell are you trying to say?!” Tanuki growled, her gaze falling towards Mel’s breasts. She reached back and slapped the two voluptuous mounds on Mel’s chest with a splayed hand, through which she felt their soft, fleshy consistency deform under her fingers. They jiggled violently but abruptly in their fabric restraints.

“OW!” Mel yelped in pain, her arms instinctively crossing over her breasts to protect them from further damage motivated by Tanuki’s envy. “What in god’s name was that for?! That hurt!”

“Fuzaken~na!” Tanuki spat, crawling back into her bed with the white lace bra in hand. “Is this how you treat the less fortunate? Mockery? Shameless!”

Her anger usually struck fear into Mel, but on this unlikely occasion, it instead brought her on the verge of uncontrollable laughter through some unknown, inexplicable force. Whether this was merely a rare outburst of a side to Tanuki that seldom revealed itself or a sign of changing circumstances between them was still a mystery, and like the detective she was, the cogs in her head started to turn and grand formulations started to assemble.

















3 Likes
348

Shitbox Rally

Stage 5: Itzgarde to Raiegarda

Stage Start: 1 Sun, 23/7/3251, Itzgarde Campsite

Weather at Stage Start: Hot, unpleasantly humid, but breezy.
Weather at mid-stage: Still hot, slightly less humid, still breezy.
Weather at Stage End (First Car): Hot, humid, and breezy.
Weather at Stage End (Last Car): Warm, humid, and breezy.

Stage End (First Car): A little after 3 Sun, 23/7/3251, Raiegarda Campsite

Stage End (Last Car): A little before 7 Sun, 23/7/3251, Raiegarda Campsite

Starting off in the old Itzgarde abandoned logging camp, everyone quickly heads down the twisty gravel road. Immediately obvious to all of the drivers, however, are the rather nasty bumps and dips and slight jumps in the gravel, chucking cars sideways and unsettling everyone. Worse still is when the road transitions to cobblestone, or more appropriately, what probably used to be cobblestone, considering how rough it is. It’s almost worse to drive on the cobblestone road than it is to drive in the dirt, but with the river so close by to one side and trees whipping by on the other, going off-roading is a big risk. However, as everyone closes in on the campsite, morale improves greatly. First, while Itzgarde was a proper good-size town, so too is Raiegarda. Second, and perhaps more importantly, is the crystal clear lake that connects to the Duskwater River. Several of the locals can be seen swimming in the far side of the lake, occasionally pointing at our strange cars, strange outfits, and strange people, though never in a hostile way.

Notes: Randomization is active. Breakdowns are active. Time is in Earth Time.

@Madrias

Team Shift Happens

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:32:11
Average MPH: 64.1
Randomizer: 13
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

With Rukari banned from driving, Kaylie not really understanding the manual gearbox yet, Kayden’s crunchy gear changes the day before, Jayde’s dislike of driving, and Kivenaal having the mother of all hangovers, it was up to Malavera to drive today. Apparently, all of his time flinging digital rally cars into the trees has taught him something, because today, he put his foot down and the Bricksley went where he wanted it to go.

@Caligari

Team Wayfarers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:51:30
Average MPH: 51.7
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Steady and strong, the old Bogatir has no issues with bumpy gravel roads or rough cobblestones. It’s nothing compared to the potholes where it was made, after all.

@Executive

Team Gearknobs

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:16:03
Average MPH: 48.8
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

The Carica just can’t seem to get a break, as a burst tire a few minutes into the rough cobblestone road leads to some minor delays.

@BannedbyAndroid

Team Fallen Angels of the Past

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:52:46
Average MPH: 60.4
Randomizer: 13
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Somehow, the two girls summoned the spirit of the old Group B heroes once again, put a strong foot down on the gas pedal, and sailed their Claussient to victory.

@interior

Team Slow

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 09:19:35
Average MPH: 38.0
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 2 (Chassis)
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Confidence was high going into this round after putting all the fuses and relays back where they belonged. Sadly, they weren’t all put back into the right places, as the team is presented with another flashing Service Engine Soon light and a gauge-light-party. Time to go check the service manual to see where each of them goes this time.

@TheYugo45GV

Team Oil Crisis

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:04:05
Average MPH: 70.0
Randomizer: 13
Refueling Stops: 2
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

A small jump in the gravel section causes two howls of joy to burst out as the two Dyre pups experience their first bit of airtime. Making it into the campsite second is a breath of fresh air.

@Knugcab

Team Hillbilly Rollers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:08:20
Average MPH: 69.1
Randomizer: 12
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

It’s a quick pink brick! Gravel wasn’t a problem for the Hillbilly Rollers, and the rough cobblestone road likewise wasn’t an issue, even if it was uncomfortable. Claiming third, after all, was worth it.

@Fayeding_Spray

Team Witchlight

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:24:45
Average MPH: 55.4
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

It seems Elist is getting used to driving on gravel, because they pushed the car hard through it, kicking up rocks the whole way. Unfortunately, they had to slow down on the cobblestone road because everyone was getting shaken up a bit.

@MrdjaNikolen

Team Mravolinski-Chitco

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:19:08
Average MPH: 56.2
Randomizer: 12
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Other than being sprayed with gravel from the EAAC Aphrodite of team Witchlight while trying to pass them, the team makes it through with no delays this time.

@variationofvariables

Team Blazers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:23:50
Average MPH: 48.0
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 1 (Powertrain)
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

When it rains, it pours. After the Yamada threw its serpentine belt twice, the team discovered the culprit in camp to be a loose alternator bracket.

@SurrealCereal

Team Machinas Con Passiones

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:12:32
Average MPH: 49.2
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 4
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Everyone’s feeling pretty good about themselves because they managed to pass the Yamada. No one’s willing to admit to themselves that they saw the hood was open when that pass was made. Likewise, they felt great about passing the Hakaru, conveniently ignoring the tire iron and jack in the mechanic’s hands.

@AndiD

Team Quick Rally 47

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 04:28:23
Average MPH: 79.4
Randomizer: 12
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Pedal to the metal, foot to the floor, and askin’ for more! The Mara Kanyon thunders over the rough stuff like it’s perfectly paved asphalt. Being first to the camp just means more time to observe everyone as they try to rest.

@BG004130

Team Mrezhari

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:39:18
Average MPH: 62.8
Randomizer: 12
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Team Mrezhari tried their hardest to hold off the pass, but got outplayed by the two-headed wolf behind the wheel of the Bricksley. On the plus side, that pass happened on the cobblestone road, so no gravel hit the Dunav.

@NoahC

Team Jockey

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 08:43:45
Average MPH: 40.7
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 2
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

“Damn it, Dave! You did it again!” With four flat tires again, the team equips their cart-wheel spares. On the plus side, no more flat tires. On the minus side, they’re as hard as rocks and everyone gets to experience what it’s like to ride in a paint shaker.

@elizipeazie

Team RK Series Racing

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:58:29
Average MPH: 59.4
Randomizer: 13
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

Sure, the gravel and the rough cobblestone roads weren’t exactly the best proving ground for the Tangerine Tank Engine, but with Connor behind the wheel and Valentin taking the fireman’s controls, the Dione proved to be quite fast. It’s just clear that it’s begging for some nice flat, smooth roads to go full steam ahead on.

@Tzuyu_main

Team Black Rabbit

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 10:13:53
Average MPH: 34.7
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

The rough roads of the previous stages left a few of the tires in somewhat sorry shape going into this stage. The rough cobblestone road simply finished them off one by one, requiring plenty of patches on the side of the road.

@SheikhMansour

Team Spy Kids

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:06:32
Average MPH: 58.1
Randomizer: 10
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 1598.4

No one seemed to be in too much of a rush today, and it somewhat paid off, as the AST Elbrus manages to stay in one piece a little longer.

Stage Finishing Order:

Team Quick Rally 47 (Xenoanthropology Department)
Team Oil Crisis
Team Hillbilly Rollers
Team Shift Happens
Team Mrezhari
Team Fallen Angels of the Past
Team RK Series Racing
Team Spy Kids
Team Mravolinski-Chitco
Team Witchlight
Team Wayfarers
Team Machinas Con Passiones
Team Gearknobs
Team Blazers
Team Jockey
Team Slow
Team Black Rabbit Corporation

Team Shift Happens

Previous Chapters:

Another One Bites The Dust - Stage 2 Run / Stage 2 Campsite
Repairs / A Good Meal - Stage 2 Campsite / The Green Crystal (Written by TheYugo45GV and Madrias)
A Good Night’s Sleep? - Stage 2 Campsite
“Here Comes the Hound of Death” - Stage 2 Campsite Battle - Written by Elizipeazie, TheYugo45GV, and Madrias.
Fright Night Forest Stage - Stage 3 Run / Stage 3 Camp
The Free Day - Stage 3 Camp (written in collaboration with @Elizipeazie) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3)
Safe Arrival - Stage 3 Camp (Written in collaboration with @TheYugo45GV)
The Rescue - Stage 4 Drive and Stage 4 “Camp”
The Rebuild - Stage 4 “Camp” (Written in collab. with @Elizipeazie ) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4)
“It’s 6-Fucking-Moon!” - Stage 4 Camp
Breakfast with RK Series Racing - Stage 4 Camp Final (Written in collaboration with Elizipeazie)

Raiegarda Campsite, 1 Sun

Despite getting some sleep after the chaos of the day before, most of the team was tired, even after their good breakfast earlier. While the long days did mean that it was possible to get some extra sleep, spending more than 24 Earth hours awake was rough for all of them. Well, all except for Malavera, who admitted to the team, “I’ve never quite adapted to Earth’s 24 hour days. Where I am from, or at least, before my exile, our day cycle was 46 Earth hours long. Doesn’t take much to adapt to a 48 hour ‘day’ and, well, I’ve been mostly keeping to it.”

“Think you can drive?” Kaylie asked, feeling content after breakfast.

“Sure. I’m probably the one best suited for driving today anyway. Rukari wrecked the truck. Kayden and Jayde are both stick-shift rookies. I don’t think you’ve gotten much practice with manual gearboxes. Kivenaal looks like he hasn’t properly slept in three days. That leaves me,” Malavera replied.

“Right,” Kayden said. “Then we’ve got our driver picked. Everyone, into the truck.”

Malavera took the driver’s seat, Kayden took the mid-bench because Malavera wasn’t trusting that Rukari would keep his feet off of the pedals, and Kivenaal took the shotgun seat, still looking a bit tired. In the rear bench, Rukari was behind Malavera (mostly so he couldn’t interfere with the controls), Jayde sat in the mid-bench, and Kaylie held her usual spot commanding the radios.

As they rolled out of the old logging camp, there was the sharp note of a steam whistle, followed by Tim of Team RK Series Racing yelling out of the open window, “Choo Choo, Motherfuckers!”

Kaylie laughed. “Good to see they’re in such high spirits after what they went through yesterday.”

On the Road

Malavera gripped the wheel in his left hand, his right loosely resting on the gear stick. He knew better than to do that, but in the moment, when he kept having to change gears while on the gravel, he wasn’t going to keep moving his hand back to the wheel. The Bricksley’s big V8 roared menacingly beneath the hood as he mercilessly stepped on the throttle, throwing several tons of over-loaded American “pickup van” around. “Looks like we’re actually running cooler,” Malavera said.

“Willing to bet we lost a lot of coolant. Also, straight water is better than antifreeze for cooling potential. Antifreeze might lower the freezing point, but… Water’s water, it’s a great carrier of heat,” Kaylie said. “How are the brakes?”

“A little softer than I’d like, but,” Malavera said, stepping on the firm pedal and wheeling the truck around another bend, “the pedal is solid, so it’s not a system problem. Just we’ve probably greatly exceeded the weight limits of this poor old truck, and if we try too much to use the brakes, we’re going to fade them into non-existence.”

“So that’s why you’ve been using the gears,” Kayden said, suddenly getting it. “Engine braking. 427 cubic inches of mechanical brake.”

“It’s a smart move,” Kivenaal said. “Kinda have to do that in a lot of my favorite trucks, they just don’t like to stop.”

“That’s because you like those big military fuckers that I can’t get parts for,” Kaylie replied.

As they transitioned from the gravel onto the rough cobblestone road, however, the Bricksley’s cargo started protesting by rattling and clattering, while the truck itself surged onward, gathering speed as the engine roared. Malavera finally got the gearbox up into fifth gear and kept his foot down, the huge truck barreling along. He flashed the high-beams in fair warning of a pass, put his signal on, and sent the big Bricksley sailing around the smaller Dunav of Team Mrezhari, again signaling and finishing the pass. Sooty smoke poured out of both side-pipes as the Bricksley tried to pull a significant lead, though with as much weight as they had onboard, it just wasn’t happening.

When they rolled into the lakeside camp at Raiegarda, Malavera walked the truck down the gears to slow down, prowling around the rim of the camp until he found a good spot, then parked the truck.

Raiegarda Campsite, Just Before 3-and-60 Sun

Kivenaal jumped down out of the Bricksley’s cab, already looking a little tired. Kayden and Malavera were next to leave the truck, and it didn’t take long for Kaylie, Rukari, and Jayde to get out, either. No sooner had they gotten all the doors closed, the clock in the nearby town of Raiegarda struck one high chime, announcing a quarter hour had passed.

“Let’s get our tents up, then we can relax,” Kivenaal said.

Jayde’s response was just to wave his hand, making their five tents unpack themselves, then set themselves up. “Now the tents are up,” Jayde replied. “If anyone wants to go for a swim, by the way, that lake is wonderful. It’s clear, slightly cool, quite refreshing.”

“Huh. Might take a swim, then,” Malavera said, grabbing his supplies from in the cab and storing them in his tent. He disappeared into the tent and switched out of his usual clothes into a pair of light gray swimming trunks, then made his way over to the lake with his white fur gleaming in the sun. He waded in, then settled into the cool water, just casually treading water at that point.

Jayde and Kaylie crawled into their tent and decided to get a little more sleep, even if it was only just a little bit.

Kivenaal grabbed one of his cigars and sat on a tree stump, lighting it with a flame held at the tip of one of his claws, just trying to unwind a bit. “I wonder,” he muttered to himself, “if anyone here happens to have anything with cinnamon in it.”

Rukari stared at his brother, then chuckled. “To think on Earth you avoid that like it is a deadly plague, yet here, you are considering it.”

“It’s hard to be here, you know. Where the End began. I know that there are thousands of years before that will happen, but… I… I keep reliving that night. I just want that to stop,” Kivenaal replied.

Kayden gave a slight look around, making sure no one was watching, then opened up the back door of the Bricksley’s cab, reached into his personal supplies, and pulled out a tube of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls. “I shouldn’t be enabling this,” he said, looking to Kivenaal as he held out the tube, “but bake those and you’ll have delicious cinnamon rolls.”

Kivenaal stared at Kayden, then said, “I have to ask, why exactly did you bring those?”

“Was tempted to make some for breakfast one of these days. Those have been sitting in a battery-powered micro-fridge for the last few days, the battery is nearly dead, so… They have to be cooked and eaten now,” Kayden replied.

Kivenaal nodded, then grabbed a few supplies out of the toolbox to bake the cinnamon rolls over their campfire. He cracked open the can, placing the rolls out on the pan and placing the pan over the fire, watching as the rolls baked in the open heat of the fire and the hot Crugandr sun. Once they were done, Kivenaal added the sweet icing, then set the pan aside to cool down for a few minutes.

“How badly are those going to affect him?” Kayden asked Rukari.

“A few of them? Not too much. Might take his mind off of things. If he eats all of them? There won’t be anything in this world that could bother him,” Rukari replied.

Kivenaal picked up the first still-quite-hot cinnamon roll and took a bite, enjoying the sweet icing, the decadent cinnamon and brown sugar in the pastry itself, and the feeling of mild satisfaction at having a good snack. It didn’t take him long to go for another one, and while he enjoyed each bite, he could feel a powerful sensation of calm washing over him, washing away the pain of his past for a moment.

There were only a few rolls left on the plate when the two Dyre pups from Team Oil Crisis wandered over, grabbing a still-warm roll each. Kivenaal was aware of their presence, but wasn’t bothered by them, simply grabbing the last roll and finishing it off as well. For the first time in a very, very long time, he felt at peace. He closed his eyes to relax a bit, letting his mind wander as he rested there, having eaten nearly a whole plate of cinnamon rolls by himself.

Raiegarda Campsite, just before 4-and-40 Sun

Kaylie and Jayde got out of the tent, feeling quite refreshed as they both looked for their wayward teammates. Malavera was still near the lake, having found a large enough flat rock to sit on where he could keep both heads above water and just relax. Kayden was wandering around, just relaxing as far as Kaylie could tell, taking in the sights of the new area. Rukari was returning from the town of Raiegarda with supplies for a meal. Then they saw Kivenaal sitting next to an empty tray, near a cooking fire that had long since burned out.

Kaylie got closer, and with one whiff, she sighed. “Really? Who gave him cinnamon rolls?”

“Really? He ate food with cinnamon in it?” Jayde asked. As Kaylie nodded, Jayde shook his head and chuckled. “I suppose that is one way to, as some would put it, ‘Just be.’ Maybe it will be good for him to get a few hours of relief from whatever has been troubling his mind.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying this is a good thing,” Kaylie said, staring up at Jayde.

Jayde smiled, before explaining, “When we are in pain, we want something to ease that pain, yes? You and I know this physically, between your arm and my leg. What do you do if your pain is from your mind and memories?”

“So, by getting stoned out of his mind, he gets a bit of peace?” Kaylie asked.

“The stronger effects of cinnamon on his kind wear off quickly. This will fade, and yet he’ll be more at peace for a day or so afterwards. He must have had quite a lot of it to get to this point, but it’s possible he didn’t realize how strong those were,” Jayde replied. “Or if they tasted good, he might have eaten a few too many just because he was enjoying the taste. He’ll be hungry later, though, so it’s good that Rukari is making food. Likely, he’s making extra for Kivenaal because he’s going to need it.”

Kaylie shrugged, then went around the back of the truck to grab a bag of chips out of the toolbox, only to spot something they’d all missed the day before. A smear of atomic-bubblegum-pink paint across the driver’s side of the truck bed, near the tail-light. With a scowl, she stalked over to where Rukari was sitting and grabbed his left ear in a left-handed pinch.

“Ai!” Rukari yelled, suddenly startled by Kaylie’s sudden and aggressive grab, followed by his ear being pulled. He stood up with a grimace, only to realize Kaylie still had a firm grip on his ear.

“Yeah, you’re going to apologize to the Hillbilly Rollers for side-swiping their van,” Kaylie said, switching her grip to her right hand and blocking Rukari’s tail with her left hand, before grabbing it just ahead of the venomous tuft. “Try that again, Rukari, and I swear by the Twin Suns I will tie a knot in it,” she said, before marching Rukari over to the IP Freeway Star.

“Rukari here,” Kaylie said, having since let go of Rukari’s tail, but still having a firm, though natural grip, on his left ear, “has something to say to you. Don’t you?” Kaylie glared at Rukari, and despite all the battles he’d been through, there was a moment of mild fear as he knew what Kaylie could potentially do.

“I apologize for side-swiping the van,” Rukari said, grimacing slightly as Kaylie still had a strong grip on his ear.

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Are we allowed to have an new team member post-reg, like, if you picked someone up or got a girlfriend? Like as an additional person, not indirectly a replacement

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as long as you have room, you will be alright.

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And the XL53 does have 5 seats right?

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I see no real issues with it, as long as there’s space in your vehicle for them. It won’t affect stats.

I might not immediately put them into the spreadsheet, but I’ll keep track of them.

The XL53, does, in fact, have 5 seats.

353

Cool. Been thinking of doing that for this part as a major change

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good to know

have been thinking of the same, albeit highly temporary and for an entirely different reason :smiley:

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OOC note:

my team is available for interaction in this stage

RK Series Racing; Stage 5 Drive

With breakfast done and the team (largely) awake, they got to work preparing “Robert” by greasing up most of the engine bay by means of a manual grease gun, kindly supplied by the Itzgarde Steamworks…

“Mind if we stop over in town real quick? Need to collect up my… this time actually shootable… bows.”, Constantin mentioned.
“Sure. It may take only a minute for Robert to be driveable, but it takes about 15 for full power to develop.”, Valentin replies, placing the last few squirts on the stephenson valve gear next to the engine.

After that, they pile into the car, with Connor once again at the helm and Valentin, for what felt like the first time, taking seat in the “fireman’s position” (read: front passenger seat).

Before the Tangerine Tank Engine rolls into motion, Tim reaches over from the rear bench and turns the ignition key, which now is a re-purposed whistle actuator, sending a series of whistle blasts across the entire camp.
Immediately after, he pokes his head out of his window in back, shouting:

Choo Choo Motherf . . . ers!!!

In very good spirits, the Dione rolls off into town.
A few minute later, they stop over at the local bowyer’s place, where Tim leaves the car to make room for Constantin to exit as well.

A few minutes later, Constantin returns, holding a pair of bows , some strings and a series of arrows, which are taken straight into the interior of the vehicle.

Now having made full pressure, they leave Itzgarde, passing the steamworks once again and thanking them by blowing their whistle, with waves of joy and amazement being recieved in reply.
As soon as they are out of town, Connor absolutely floors it once again, with zero regard for steam consumption or efficiency.

to be continued

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I probably want to do some interaction with you later. Janne is probably going crazy when he sees the steam conversion.

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TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!

PART 6.0 - Speed

The Dyre incident the day before had actually turned out quite well in the end. The puppies came back to the Magistrate after hiding in the woods for a while, and team Oil Crisis seemed to look after them a little bit better after that. In the morning, the team was speeding away in a rapid pace.

MARIE: “You’re planning to blow more tyres, Speedy Gonzales?”
ANDREAS: “Hey, this is only a regular gravel road, not nearly as bad as what we saw yesterday.”

And - he was right. It all went on quite undramatic with the accelerator pinned to the floor, and thanks to the AWD, the van actually went straight where some of the rear wheel drive cars were behaving more like horny snakes.

MARIE: “I am getting roadsick!”
ANDREAS: “No, you are just having a hangover and it is all your own fault!”

Some fresh air at a fuel stop later was a relief, though, but in front of them the roads looked VERY bad.

JANNE: “Are you going to take the risk to drive at the same pace here?”
ANDREAS: “Well, the other risk we can take is to come last. We don’t want to come last. We have lost enough time already in the earlier rounds.”

With Hulkoff’s sweet voice on full volume, the team sprinted away at full pace which was a jolting experience. But despite the large amount of risk taking, the van came to the next camp in one piece.

ANDREAS: “Great, we made it. Marie, can you try to not start any chaos this evening? We’re getting tired of it now!”
MARIE: “I never start any chaos.”
JANNE: “OK, she can’t even try.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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TEAM BLAZERS


“God, you can live like this?” An annoyed male voice called out.

After the morning forest petrichor filled the thick and heavy humid air of the log cabin as the heat surrounded the camp following the light drizzle of last night, the team’s nostrils caught the whiff of the post-rain scent as the rainwater from the ground dissipated from the weather around, with some feeling more nostalgic than others, and others with their sweat dripping from beneath their chins and around their arms as their bodies coped with the sweltering heat of the forest campsite.

“Oh please, doesn’t Italy have pretty much the same weather? Mediterranean’s basically the same, isn’t it?” Romulo commented, also with sweat building up around his forehead. “It’s not that bad, seriously. I can’t believe you stood up to those wolf things, yet the moment the weather shifts slightly, you’re out here complaining like a child. I mean, look at Charlotte! She’s… doing… fine…?”

He looked up from the grille and glanced over towards the inside of the cabin, where a very agitated cat was sitting on a table inside the cabin by the small window, fanning herself and the other girls with one of Romulo’s anahaw fans he brought over. Once again, Emily and Charlotte were both hard at work with the pacenotes, with the humid cabin air only making a rather difficult job harder. The humidity and heat seemed to not be enjoyed by anyone but Romulo as he stood in the breezy star-kissed weather by the portable grille where lunch was being made before their departure. He lifted the lid to reveal some cubed-up exotic-looking chicken that Charlotte had bought from the market the other night that were skewered on some barbecue sticks along with some vegetables, slowly roasting along to the crackling of charcoal below. He fanned the grille to let the heat rise, and the scent of what seemed like chicken came along with it.

From seemingly out of nowhere, a silver-haired figure came out from behind him, and he saw as a small arm began to reach for the hot chicken. Instantly an alarm went off in his head, and he grabbed the arm before it could injure itself. “Hey!” He looked down and to no one’s surprise, a hungry Ga’araiya was there, now visibly quite angered after she was stopped from receiving a meal. “Food’s still hot, you’re gonna get burned, you know?” He said, moving her squirming arm away from the grille. She seemed to pout even more at this, her child-like appearance only contributing to this insecurity about him scolding her. “B-be patient-”

“She can handle hot food quite well. You can let her be.” A hand landed on Romulo’s shoulder, and he turned around to see a Watson, shirtless and with sweat rolling down his large body. Romulo let go of Ga’araiya’s hand, but before she could attempt to grab it again, he quickly shut the lid to let the skewers continue cooking. "Well, it’s not fully cooked yet, " He said. “Put a shirt on, too. Ladies are watching, y’know?”

“You say that,” Watson raised his eyebrow. “Yet was it not only a few days ago that you took off your own shirt in the heat?”

“I guess we’re all accustomed to different weather, aren’t we?”

“The weather hither remind me of the jungles in French Indochina during the summers. Not too different from your own Philippine homeland. It hadst been quite a while since I’ve been there. I wonder if we are near the equator of this world?” Watson walked over towards the Yamada, whose hood was propped open to prevent the heat from gathering inside the engine bay, and grabbed his shirt from atop the vehicle, still stained in the blood of the Dyre he had slain just a few nights before. Charlotte looked out the window and saw something that she deemed quite peculiar, something with Watson’s shirt.

“Hey, Watson, wasn’t your shirt ripped up?” She rose from the table to lean out towards the window. He looked at it, and indeed it had lost the tears that once severed the sleeve on which he was bitten on. But most peculiarly the arm where Watson was bitten no longer had the bruise marks that once dotted his skin in the pattern of the beast’s jaws, and Charlotte was simply astounded. “Your arm… is healed?”

“What about them?” He looked at her completely straight, without flinching or any hint of anything to conceal. “Is he just, capable of doing that?” She looked at Emily, who simply shrugged. “I’ll tell you what, I do not know what exactly he is capable of. But let’s just say, he’s very much a capable being.”

“Being? You’re telling me he’s not human?”

“Sorry to say, but I’m not sure about that part either. I think it would be best just not to question him.” She sighed set the pen down onto the table as she just about finished writing. “I’m quite hungry already, is the meal ready yet? It does smell quite nice and very much appetising.” Emily said, getting up from the table. But Charlotte still wasn’t satisfied. “You’re just gonna leave it at that?”

“The thing is, Charlotte,” Emily went over towards her, placing her hands over the feline’s fur-coated shoulders. “I’m just as confused as you are. I was not expecting myself to suddenly be moved to another world and join an automobile rally all because of my encounter with a princess of the sea and my eagerness to help someone like her when I first found her that night. What do I have to do with royal affairs, anyway? Being an aircraft engineer in a country where my creations would not recieve my credit, in a world where the continent is on the verge of warfare a second time?” Emily looked into Charlotte’s eyes. “Fate brings you to peculiarities you simply just do not have an explanation for. Sometimes, questions are best left answered, and you’re better off appreciating the moment, right?”

She looked back at the taller blonde girl, there was no point in hiding anything to anyone at this point, and if there was, the reason would likely be justified. “I suppose that may be true. I guess if he’s a superhuman, we can let that be. But it is curious isn’t it? We’re in this rally together, I suppose it isn’t wrong to get to know each other better?”

“Throughout this rally, I do not remember much times we’ve had conflict with one another.” Emily paused for a moment, and her face flushed slightly at the thought. “Well, except those… times… But aside from that, maybe it could be through fear that we support one another through this, but we’re all in this together, aren’t we? We’ve accepted our differences, mostly, and we’re able to work as one. I think we’ve learned about each other enough through our experiences with one another, and even though some mysteries are still unsolved, we’re doing fine.” She pulled her in for a hug. “I believe you’re still afraid of being alone, aren’t you?”

Charlotte wrapped her arms around Emily as well with a heavy sigh. “You heard that night, didn’t you?” Emily nodded with a soft affirmative. “I don’t know what we’re going to be doing after this rally, but with the massive time differences and world differences between us all…” “It’s fine, once we return Ga’araiya…” “Oh wait, don’t you still have a mission to do?” Charlotte pulled away from the hug and looked towards Watson, who, along with Romulo and Ga’araiya were now beginning to chow down on their skewers, and he paused his meal to look at her.

“That’ll be not very difficult, assuming that the watch does return to service.”

“Well, seeing as I can make rifts, I could theoretically come over for a visit, couldn’t I?” Charlotte pondered enthusiastically, but it seemed Watson thought otherwise as he looked at her with a deep seriousness in his eyes.

“Powers like that cannot be used freely according to your will. There’s a certain responsibility to bringing the future into the past and vice versa.” He argued without a flinch. His sharp gaze pierced into the feline’s as he intended to let her know the consequences without direct confrontation. Yet Charlotte’s armor seemed to work well for these scenarios, and she simply shrugged it off with a slight giggle.

“Yup, which is why I’d have to take precaution!”

Watson, not wanting to argue pointlessly, simply continued to eat, although to his surprise, he found no trace left of the meat on his skewers, and looking around he found the culprit with her face stuffed with more skewers than a regular human child would’ve been able to eat, all swallowed in one big gulp. “What kind of princess knows no manners?” He scoffed at her playfully, with Ga’araiya looking back at him and covering her mouth up with both hands, her face flushing slightly as she looked back away. “I-I… have manners too… you know…” Her soft voice came out of the blue. It was the first time she spoke a full sentence, and Watson simply chuckled.

With their lunch over, they began to pack up again to set off for another journey, and the dusty red Yamada started up with its usual ease. But something seemed quite peculiar to Emily that no one else noticed. As the four cylinder started up, a distinct rattling was heard for a moment that happened right as the car vibrated into life, but to everyone the vehicle’s loud unmuffled exhaust didn’t seem to make a difference at all. Seeing as no one else was bothered by it, she let it be for now as she climbed into the front seat and prepared for another day of rallying.

The bell in the town rang, and the orchestra of automobile cylinders all running out of the camp sounded the beginning of yet another stage. Leaving the camp were the bright flashes yet again of the different colour vehicles passing through, with a loud whistle from a certain orange liftback blaring loudly as they passed. Watson in the driver’s seat looked over in the distance to find the Anhultz outfitted with some contraptions he hadn’t seen before, and Charlotte was eager to speak up about it.

“They’ve converted it to steam! Incredible!” She exclaimed as she watched them pass by the orange sedan, as with the Watson now back in the captain’s chair, the team was ready to rumble and go all out once again.

The start was figuratively and literally rocky, as the faded cobblestone roads jolted about the vehicle as it traversed the precipitous rocks, and Watson was unable to manage to stay focused at first, but eventually he got the hang of it, and merging in intercourse with Emily’s pacenotes, the car was able to steadily traverse across the coarse, faded roads and hopping about every bump on the way like a galloping stallion with every minor bump on the road predicted by Watson. The faded cobblestone shook the vehicle’s suspension and the tyres momentarily lost their traction, but smooth hand movement and driver coordination meant that for the most part, they were blazing.

This smooth sailing went on until a dip in the road jolted about the vehicle and Watson once again lost his focus as a loud flopping noise came from the engine bay, and a haunting rattling shook the engine. He slowed down a bit and looked behind him, Romulo sat there with horror on his face as he was able to tell what exactly had gone wrong. He raised his hand and signalled for Watson to stop the vehicle, and the red crossover came to a halt by the side of the road. “Open the hood and watch the temps.” Romulo told Watson as he hopped out of the car. He made his way towards the vehicle’s front and after a game of guessing where the hood latch was, he lifted up the engine’s covering and peered down into the engine bay.

“How’s the temps?” Romulo called out, and a response quickly came from within the cabin. “Slowly rising!” Said Watson. Romulo called for the engine to be shut off, and after picking out a flashlight from the glovebox, he peered deeper towards the engine bay and found the main culprit, the serpentine belt which ran the vehicle’s water pumps had fallen off one of its connection points. After going back and grabbing something for him to step on for better leverage, he looked down into the engine bay to get a closer look. The belt had only been replaced a few months prior, and looking at it, it hadn’t aged a day since its replacement, though maybe a bit dusty but otherwise perfectly fine. Visibly confused, Romulo managed to wiggle it back into place and called for Watson to start the vehicle up once more. With the engine roaring itself back into life with no screeching or any signs of a bad belt, he was convinced the belt was indeed back on, but was still visibly shaking in place. He shut the hood and went back into the cabin.

“Drive belt’s fallen off. We’re going to have to go at a slower pace if we don’t want the car to overheat.”

Emily looked back at him, quite unsure with his wording of the scenario. “Drive belt? Do you perhaps mean the timing belt, or…?”

“No, no, the drive belt. It runs pretty much all the other critical functions of the car. Were they not a thing back in the 30s or something?”

“I don’t believe they were a thing on aircraft engines. Maybe it could have been there for an automobile engine, however. I’m quite unsure.”

“Right…” Romulo buckled his seatbelt back up. “Well, let’s just keep it at a slower pace. We’ll deal with the issue at the next camp.”

With a nod, Watson continued forth. It was a bit unsettling for Emily to read the pace notes slower than she was previously used to, and she likened it more to telling someone directions whilst on a hiking trip as the Yamada crawled its way (relatively speaking) towards the next destination. On smoother sections where the risk was lessened, Watson put a bit more throttle into it, before seeing the road ahead and slowing back down. Cars continually passed the damaged Yamada, but in the interest of maintaining the vehicle’s longetivity, they had no other choice.

But even at this slow pace, as they neared the campsite according to the map and the notes, the flopping noise was heard again, only this time it continued even after the car came to a halt by the side of the road, Once again, the order was given to shut the engine off, and Romulo went out with a flashlight to see the issue, but as the engine had been running for quite some time now, and the humid air helping maintain the temperature of the bay, he was forced to wait for a bit to prevent his hand from burning from accidentally touching hot metal components. Whilst he waited, he shone the flashlight towards the lower section of the engine bay, and he found the serpentine belt had once again gone completely loose, having fallen off the entirety of its pulleys.

“Susmaryosep…” He cursed under his breath as he got up and looked towards the road. “We’re only a few miles away from camp, what the hell could’ve caused that?”

On the side of the road where they stopped, not too far away from the town of Raiegarda, was a rather pretty-looking lake. Romulo observed some of the locals as they stared at some of the vehicles that passed by them, and some who looked closely at their own red vehicle. Had this been the human world, they likely would’ve been made a laughing stock by the people around, and yet these people who had never before seen an automobile with an engine so compact, so advanced and so alien, simply stared in awe and curiosity. Fortunately for him, not one of them approached the broken down Yamada as he continued waiting for the engine to cool, as every once in a while he’d lean his hand over the engine to check if the heat had dissipated enough for him to stick his hand in.

Finally, after a long process of checking over the engine every now and then, it had cooled down enough for him to reattach the belt, and once he’d fidgeted around enough getting it back on, almost bumping his head into the hood and having himself cut in half, he asked for Watson to start the engine back up, which did so compliantly and they were now on their way towards the campsite.

They arrived at the campsite a bit later in the day, with the area being more full than usual, they had a bit less freedom of choice of where to set up camp, but eventually did decide on a spot a bit near the lake. The team split up into those working on the vehicle, and the other setting up camp. Emily joining Romulo whilst Watson and Charlotte set up the tent nearby. Their first order of business was jacking the car up, which after ensuring the car was indeed on stiff enough ground, they proceeded with caution as the nose of the red SUV lifted up off the ground.

“We’re going to have to take the bumper off and the wheels if we want to have a proper look at this. Thankfully, quite easy to do on this car.” Romulo said as he prepared his tools for the long task ahead of them. “We’ll need to be quick, otherwise sunset shall come soon.” Emily said, tying her long golden hair up into a neat ponytail and tying her sleeves up to avoid them getting too much into the way. Romulo stared a bit as she did so, and he felt his face heat up ever so slightly before he quickly averted his gaze. “Y-yeah…”

Romulo took a stool nearby to lift himself up into the engine bay, where he disconnected the bumper foglights and unhooked the clips, which made the bumper fall right down onto the ground with a dull, plasticky thud. On the other hand, Emily took one of the wrenches and began to take the nuts off the wheels one by one, and in a matter of time, she was ready to assist Romulo in searching for the problem.

“Right, so quick briefing. The drive belt is a belt that… well… drives the vehicle’s other components. I believe in older engines, they used separate belts which, while very redundant, were probably not as efficient. This car uses just one belt, and it’s loose, and that’s what we’ve gotta find now.” He said to her.

“Which components specifically? You did not mention what they were, however you did say they were critical.” Emily inquired.

“Well, on this car? To my knowledge, the alternator, which produces electricity for the rest of the car’s functions, the water pump for the radiator, and the air conditioning. Thankfully, the power steering has its own redundant belt, so that’s all good.”

“I see. I presume the alternator is a modern equivalent of a magneto? That does sound quite critical… Shall we get started, then?”

With a nod, the two proceeded on searching their way around the engine, but as they were about to get underneath the car, a thought had quickly passed through Emily’s head from earlier. She remembered the rattling noise from when the car started itself, but she was unsure as to where exactly it was. “Hold on a minute, I think I may have an idea of where it came from,” She quickly tapped Romulo’s back before he could get underneath. “Could you start the engine for me? I may be able to pinpoint exactly where it came from.”

Romulo once again nodded as he moved back towards the driver’s seat, and with a thumbs up from Emily as she leaned in towards the side of the engine where the belt was, the engine started up with the distinct cranking noise and the rattling she had heard earlier. She asked for him to stop the engine, and once it did, she climbed up towards the engine bay to have a closer look. “Start it up! And do constantly adjust the throttle!” She called out, and when the engine shook itself into life again, she managed to trace exactly where the clattering of metal came from.

A round component within the engine bay dotted with holes that was connected to a bracket just off of the engine block and hooked up to the belt. It shook itself and jostled around with every rev, and she had managed figure the issue out. She called for Romulo to stop the engine and come out, and when he did and came to her side, she was quick to point directly at the culprit. “Something’s loose with this component specifically. It rattled around when the engine started, and only got worse as you increased the throttlle.”

Romulo looked down into the engine bay where she was pointing. “Oh, the alternator! Pulley’s gone bad, maybe?”

Emily leaned in a bit closer, moving nearly her entire body down closer towards the engine and jostling the component about and seeing what the issue was. The piece of metal that held the alternator the the engine block seemed to be the loose object here. She continued moving it around, and thought about it for a minute. “Do you perhaps have a small enough wrench that could fit through here?”

“I think I do.” He looked around through his toolbox, before pulling out an adjustable wrench that looked small enough to fit. With a thank you, she took the wrench, moved herself back in closer towards the alternator and twisted the bolt that held it tighter. The first few twists didn’t seem to do anything, so she moved onto another bolt closer to the engine block, and began to twist the head down into it. Once it had been sufficiently tight enough for her, she gave it a good wiggle, and the alternator was now put. “I think it should be better now. One way to find out is to have her started up again!” Emily said, enthusiastic about having worked on an engine she had never seen before, an engine built nearly a hundred years into the future where new technology was available.

Romulo ran over into the cabin and turned the key over, and immediately Emily was able to hear the clanking of the metal bracket no longer, and they were cheerful upon having fixed the issue that would’ve otherwise brought the Yamada to its knees. “Nice work! I think we’ll finally be able to relax a bit more now and go a bit more wild on the throttle.” Romulo said as he shut the engine off and went back out. “Now, to put the car back together…”

The two got to work reassembling the car, and in the midst of it, a certain curiosity pricked Romulo.

“Say, Emily, what got you into airplanes?” He asked as innocently as possible.

Emily paused for a moment, and gave herself quick few seconds to think before she went back to what she was doing. “I’d say it started when I was a small girl, I guess?”

"That was… 1927…? Nearly ten years ago, now that I think about it. The first transatlantic flight, a pilot flew all the way across that ocean from America to Europe. I was still in Britain at the time, and when I heard the news on the radio. It was broadcast everywhere in the empire, I believe that’s where my interest started. I was piqued about the new invention of aeroplanes. Everyone around me was quite surprised when they heard I had grown up from dolls and other such ‘girly’ things and began taking up an interest in the field of aeronautics.

"But where it all truly started? Not too long after that, when I was invited by my uncle to Italy to study the aeroplane. I was unsure at first, going into a country where they thought of women as not much else than the husband’s tool for housework, though they did promise me that I would keep my studies a secret. But that’s still not it. Prior to that, there was a great competition for a prize called the Schneider Trophy…

"It was 1929, I had witnessed one of the aircraft competing fly overhead, and that one was the Italian Macchi… The lines of its fuselage, how it gently curved with its distinct flair and beautiful red colour… Not too long after, I saw the Supermarines that took the prize that year, whilst elegant in their design, they did not match the beauty of the Italian aircraft that once dazzled me as it flew overhead. And that was when I knew.

“If I wanted to design an aeroplane as beautiful and as elegant as that one, there was only one place I could learn such form, and that was Italy.” She smiled at him as she cranked the last wheel nut into place.

“Aircraft are not too different from the automobile. It all stemmed from a desire for man to go faster, and further than possible. Through the principles of nature, these mechanical creations can be shaped into the most beautiful creations one could ever hope to sculpt.”

That is simply the beauty of speed.

…





Glossary

  • TEVR (Timed Electronic Variable System) is a system developed by Yamada to improve the efficiency and performance of a four-stroke internal combustion engine. The system allows for higher levels of performance at higher RPM and lower fuel consumption at lower RPM. TEVR utilises a series of camshaft profiles that can be selected hydraulically depending on a number of factors. The system differentiates from a traditional valve timing system which only changes the timing, and does not switch cam profiles, nor valve lift.

  • New Direct Injection or, ND-i is a proprietary digital electronic direct injection fuel system developed by Yamada.

  • Anahaw - A palm leaf native to parts of South East Asia. Sometimes called luyong in the Philippines, and called serdang daun bulat in Malaysia.

  • French Indochina - The predecessor colony to the countries now known as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

  • Susmaryosep - Jesus, Mary, Joseph.

  • Schneider Trophy - A prize awarded to a race for seaplanes originally ran in the 1910s to the early 1930s, and again since the 1980s.



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we might want to discuss the specifics then

either in Forum DM’s or Discord

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Yes, just have to finish some interaction with Madrias first.

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RK Series Racing; Stage 5 Drive; Part 2

About half an hour of Connor flooring the “throttle” later, first impressions can be drawn on Robert’s performance. While the boiler had ample capacity to supply the engine with enough steam, even at zero cutoff (equivalent to full throttle), the lower maximum engine speeds seriously limited top speed.

On the straights, the car loses all of it’s grunt at about 70MPH and doesn’t go past 75, unless manhandling it downhill. As such, Connor’s momentum-biased driving proved even more useful, granting ludicrous cornering speeds to counteract the lack of top end.

The remaining drive wasn’t exactly eventful, precisely because of the sheer speed they were going at and the somehow clockwork-like pitstop when refueling both tanks of the Tangerine Tank Engine.

Just under 6 hours later, which is substantially quicker than they expected, Robert rolls into the camp, the team seated within, while announced with a toot of the whistle.

to be continued

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TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed

PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (Co-op with @Madrias - hence the somewhat different format.)

When the team had been relaxing at the van for a while, arriving early as they were, they saw Kaylie from Team Shift happens coming towards them, with Rukari coming after, a bit ashamed it looked like. According to Kaylie, Rukari had something important to say.

“I apologize for side-swiping the van.”, Rukari said

“Side-swiping? No shit, Sherlock, that’s the least thing one could say! How the fuck were you driving?”, Andreas answered.

“I guess we could call it Van Gogh now”, Janne said and pointed towards the now one-mirrored van. “You get the point?”, he asked, smirking.

“Did you get your drivers license in a package of corn flakes or what?”, Marie asked, a bit salty.

Rukari grimaced, though was grateful when Kaylie let go of his ear. “I learned to drive in the Grundzahiri,” Rukari said.

“He’s military,” Kaylie explained. “Grundzahiri is their army.” She did, however, smirk at Janne naming the atomic-pink van as Van Gogh, then added, “Not a bad name for a one eared, rather artistic van.”

Rukari glanced at Kaylie to see if she was done speaking, then said, “We were heading to rescue another team. I drove as fast as I could to get to them, considering our surroundings at the time. A breakdown in Dyre territory is dangerous.”

When Marie quipped that Rukari got his drivers license in a package of Corn Flakes, Kaylie snickered. “In the United States, we’d say he got his license from a Cracker-Jack box, so it’s good to see some things stay the same.”

“What is a drivers license?” Rukari asked. “Vilzahir Arunika Veldrothan-Rhuthan has given me permission to drive any vehicle I need in a time of war, and during a time of peace, any non-military vehicle I deem appropriate.”

The deep sigh that came from Andreas could almost be heard over the entire camp. “Yeah…” he said. “We heard some chatter about that on the CB, but still…”, he said with an even more deep sigh, “…is it really worth driving so you put other teams at risk just because of that? Oh, I forgive you…mirrors aren’t really needed in this world anyway.”

It was almost like if Andreas had calmed down a bit. For some reason it was like if he had no energy for any of his usual outbursts. One could hear that he was just tired of this now.

“But please, next time, don’t drive like a maniac if you don’t have control over the situation”.

“You are almost starting to sound grown up now. I am getting a bit worried for your sake now.”, Janne said with a sigh.

“Well, have you ever mentioned the time you put my Dodge Dart in a ditch, so we had to…”, Marie continued.

“WELL ENOUGH OF THAT, THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THAT STORY!”, Andreas said in a very annoyed tone. Now everyone could recognize him again, so there was probably nothing to be worried about anymore.

“I thought I had more space. Forgot about the mirrors,” Rukari admitted.

When Marie mentioned the time that someone put her Dodge Dart in a ditch, however, and Andreas tried to claim they weren’t interested in that story, Kaylie gave an almost wicked grin. “I wouldn’t mind hearing about this. Seems our resident emperor-to-be isn’t the only one with a history of wrecking cars,” Kaylie said.

Rukari glared at her. “I did not wreck the truck,” he said.

“No, but at the Trafikjournalen 24 hours of Clunkers, you totaled our Sinistra Traville,” Kaylie replied.

“It still ran when the race was done,” Rukari shot back.

“We had to sell it for scrap value! You sent it into the wall so many times that there wasn’t a straight body panel left. You shattered the driver’s side window, caused the front suspension to collapse, making me kiss an airbag, trashed the rear suspension bad enough that we had to fabricate a bracket to keep the rear axle in place, and scattered bits of debris around the track!” Kaylie retorted, smirking.

“Yeah, anyway, we were kind of late for a party…”, Marie started.

“First, it was all your fault, because it took half the day for you to get finished, since you were so drunk so you didn’t know which planet you were on. Second, not everyone calls “some backwood drunkards getting even more drunk as fuck while setting fire to random things” a party just because we do, worth keeping in mind. Not that I think that Shift happens is some city sissies, but still.”, Andreas answered.

“Yeah and he was driving like a maniac…”, Marie continued.

“Like a maniac…sure…with a tired old 318 that has some traces of compression left on at least 7 cylinders…sure…but yeah, keep on humiliating me.”, Andreas said in a somewhat salty tone.

“Well, and I said that we should turn left at the next intersection, but appearantly I was just a stupid drunkard that should keep my mouth quiet because we should drive straight ahead according to Mr. Fittipaldi here…”, Marie continued.

Janne was trying to hide his laughter now, which didn’t succeed very well.

“Only that you could not drive straight ahead there, you could only turn left and right, which he obviously took notice of since he stomped on the brakes, but since this was late in the evening in the spring in northern Sweden, the snow had melted during the day, then freezing in the evening, so he tried to brake on a patch of black ice, and…”, Marie continued.

“My poor beercans didn’t really survive being airborne then…”, Janne pointed out.

“So, we basically did a Dukes of Hazzard jump down in the ditch, which at that time of the year was more or less a puddle of mud, so let’s just say we could not get anywhere, we had to walk for kilometers to get a farmer to pull us from there with his tractor…”, Marie laughed.

“Haha, do you remember how we were scrubbing mud from the floor for days after that?”, Janne asked.

Andreas was turning more and more red in his face, which probably was due to equal parts of anger and shame.

Kaylie laughed, then said, “Black ice is the worst. There’s a reason we set up The Lair in Nevada, and that’s because there’s no snow. We tried to get set up at Malavera’s place in Alaska, and that stopped after the first day where I slid all the way down the driveway and out into the street, then had to crawl back up the driveway with my claws.”

Rukari chuckled. “That sort of party does sound interesting. I think Kivenaal would enjoy it more, though. He has an unusual talent, manages to make water explode.”

Kaylie shrugged lightly. “Kivenaal, and I don’t know how he does this, can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. I’ve seen him make fire, so I’m assuming then that he adds a spark, and you get a deafening bang. Twin-tailed bastard nearly scared my stripes white when he detonated a water bottle behind me. When he’s having a laugh, sometimes he won’t light it, so the blast is just pressure splitting the bottle.”

“My brother likes to scare Kaylie,” Rukari admitted.

“Technically, they’re not exactly brothers, but the Valraadii have no word for distant relatives. Because both of them share a direct family lineage by bloodline, both of them have the same first part of their last name, they claim each other as brothers,” Kaylie explained. “So, even though there’s almost 8,000 years or more between them, they claim each other as brothers.”

“We both have the Khakrin blood. My father’s lineage and his father’s lineage can be traced back to the same source,” Rukari mentioned. “Though I know not when he developed a taste for scorpions. We don’t have them where I am from.”

“Oh, we’re used to snow and ice where we live. You know, we don’t have garden furniture, we just sit on the snowmobile for the only week of the year when you can’t drive it, that’s sort of…summer”. Of course, Janne said that as kind of a joke, but he had no idea if they would take him seriously or not. He listened with great interest (unlike the rest of the team) to what Kaylie and Rukari had to say, but his concentration was now mainly on one thing.

“HEY! Did you say oxygen?”, he shouted.

“Rukari, Kivenaal, and Malavera would like that kind of weather. The three of them are built for cold climates. My brother and I, not so much, and I suspect the same of Jayde as well,” Kaylie mentioned.

When Janne asked if they mentioned oxygen, Kaylie nodded. “Yes. Kivenaal has the ability to split plain water into hydrogen and oxygen. He’s also a bit stoned on cinnamon right now,” she said, before turning to Rukari. “How long will that last?”

“It has been a little more than an hour. He should be relaxed, hungry, but in a more normal state of mind,” Rukari admitted. “Cinnamon isn’t long lasting, but the relaxation from the experience can last a day.”

Janne did not listen to the cinnamon part, instead he opened the tailgate of the van, took something out of it, and started running towards Kivenaal. You could hear another deep sigh from both Andreas and Marie now.

Do anyone of you understand that man at all? Because I don’t…”, Marie asked.

“Nobody does…”, Andreas answered.

Kivenaal looked up as Janne ran toward him, looking a bit curious. Jayde, who had also been keeping an eye on Kivenaal to make sure he didn’t do something stupid like try to take a swim while impaired, looked over at Janne.

“Need something on the van fixed?” Jayde asked, grabbing his staff and getting ready to head over there at a moment’s notice.

“Nah…but this oxygen bottle. It is empty. Can any of you guys do anything about that?”, Janne asked.

“After all, if I get this oxy/acetylene torch to work again, I could help other teams which might spare your magic. So you can really benefit from this in the end, right?”

Kivenaal nodded. “I think I can do something about that, though getting the hydrogen out is going to be a bitch. I know it leaks out of seals, and it’s hard to contain, but not using it for a few days and avoiding sparks and open flames isn’t an option, I’d guess.”

Jayde looked at Kivenaal as the four-armed Valraadi grabbed a plastic water bottle with barely a splash of water left in it, a few drops that hadn’t come out, then watched as the water suddenly vanished and the bottle swelled up, dangerously close to bursting. “There is a lot of lift-gas in there. I’ve worked with airships before, I can get that out of a container,” Jayde admitted.

Kivenaal smiled, pointed the swollen bottle in a seemingly safe direction, and with a practiced flick of his thumb, popped the cap free. There was a fairly loud pop, followed by Kaylie startling as the bottle cap hit her in the back of the head.

“Kivenaal!” Kaylie yelled. “Stop destroying the caps on our spare water bottles!”

Kivenaal chuckled, then told Janne, “I think we might be able to fill that bottle, then.”

Jayde reached into one of his robe pockets and pulled out Kaylie’s adjustable wrench, having been cleaned since the Dyre battle, but still looking relatively ordinary. When Kivenaal told him to remove the valve and gauge from the top of the cylinder, he did so, though it was obvious it was a bit of a fight for him as he got used to the unfamiliar tool. Kivenaal, meanwhile, grabbed an unlabeled water can off of the roof rack and the funnel Kaylie used to fill the radiator out of the toolbox, plopped the funnel into the neck of the cylinder, and poured a rather large amount of water in. Jayde then put the valve and gauge assembly back on the bottle, opened the valve slightly, and focused his magic to only let the lift-gas out of the bottle. Kivenaal, likewise, focused to make the process slower so he didn’t either spit a bunch of oxygen, hydrogen, and water out of the valve, or worse, detonate the tank. For five long minutes, there was a loud, steady hiss from the valve as the hydrogen escaped, before Jayde finally closed the valve.

“I can’t feel any more lift-gas in that container,” Jayde admitted.

Kivenaal looked at the pressure gauge, then said, “Looks like I put a little bit much in there. We’re a little over-full.”

Janne smiled a bit about the comment. “Nah, I think it is hard to avoid sparks and fire with an acetylene torch”. He looked with amusement on the process of filling the bottle.

“Wow, I am impressed. Anyway, if something needs some heat or can be fixed with soldering or welding, just send them to me and you’ll spare some magic for when it’s better needed I guess.”, he offered.

“By the way, Kivenaal. How much do you know about IP?” , he continued.

Kivenaal smirked. “Fire and heat are my speciality, but I understand. Saving Jayde from having to do so many repair spells will be beneficial,” Kivenaal said, holding up his upper right hand so that only the two of them could see the searing-hot blue flame that he had coating the claw of his index finger for a moment. “I’m fireproof. Can’t be burned,” he added.

When Janne asked Kivenaal what he knew about IP, Kivenaal stopped to think for a bit. “I know the 4Z engine is damned reliable. Got two military surplus generators back home with them. They’ll run on just about anything you can feed them, so long as it will burn. Knew someone at the Alaskan secret base I grew up in who had a military truck with an engine built to share a huge amount of parts with the 4Z engine. I think Kaylie resto-modded a 1974 IP Rugger by making an adapter plate for the transmission and shoving a 5.2 liter Sinistra Sidewinder narrow-angle V8 in there. Yes, the ones that are meant to go sideways in a Traville. But I don’t really know much else. I mean, I probably do know more, but… Not off the top of my head like this.”

Janne got a bit excited when he heard that Kivenaal already knew a bit about what he was going to ask about. “Yeah. That military truck… Maybe you know that Sanju heavy industries is the mother company of IP, and that they also make the Sanju brand of trucks. So…what youre talking about is probably a Sanju MDM44 “Wolverine”, right? Well, I heard some rumours that you are into old military vehicles and I have a friend that is absolutely nuts, he has a couple of hundreds of them, everything from motorcycles to tracked vehicles to huge trucks. Anyway, in some months he will be importing a Wolverine…can’t wait to see it”, Janne said and paused for a while of breathing.

“You know, the engine is sick, the 8ZV. As you said, it shares a lot of parts with the 4Z. A V8 with the same pistons, same rods, twice the volume of course. One of the heads is even more or less similar to the ones found on the 4Z. And the thing that is absolutely sick is that it uses dual distributors and dual carburetors that is identical to the ones on the pre 1987 4Z. If something breaks, you can just kill four of the cylinders and run it as a V4, kind of what Cadillac did with the 4-6-8 engine, but manually, so it works. Also, it was advised to do it when going down steep during off road driving to improve engine braking. He has been looking for one for years, you know, if he finds out that something is missing in his collection, he has a hard time sleeping at night, haha”.

Kivenaal nodded. “Sanju, that’s the name. Was escaping me for a moment. The MDM44 is, from what I’ve heard, a damn-reliable piece of equipment. And the 8ZV is an incredible engine. I’ve heard stories of them coming back into their home base, shot full of holes, almost no oil pressure left, engine’s a total write-off but somehow the poor thing still ran well enough to get the soldiers home. I’ve wanted one for years myself, but finding one and finding someone willing to import it into the United States… That’s harder,” Kivenaal said. “And yeah, I’m into military vehicles myself. Not just old ones, though,” he added, holding up his key-ring to show three keys that, at first glance, looked identical, but had different cuts on them. All three were in the same Desert Tan plastic housing, with the key being black-anodized metal. “I own 3 2009 Bricksley Quagmire military trucks. Also,” he said, flipping to another black-anodized key, this time in an olive drab housing, “I have one Bricksley MHT-23 “Salamander” armored troop transporter. Big beast of a machine, quite heavy, nearly impossible to drive it anywhere because you won’t find parking spots big enough, but it’s great in the winter. Well… As long as you know that’s a snow-drift and not concealing a car under it when you decide to park in the snow drift.”

Janne nodded at what Kivenaal had to say. “Yes, I am sure that you and Arne would have a lot to talk about if you met, haha. By the way, what happened to the Anhultz yesterday? You sure were gone for a while. Did you do some heavy repairs on it? Because it seems to be working now.”

Kivenaal gave a half-smile. “I didn’t see much of what went on, but their team converted it to steam power after a catastrophic distributor failure. I… try not to be seen around here if possible, I look too close to someone I am not, and I have no desire to be worshiped,” Kivenaal admitted.

Jayde, on the other hand, spoke up. “Valentin had a brilliant plan. I couldn’t just fix the distributor because it was missing too many parts, but… We were able to tow them to a steam-works to get their car fixed. Rukari blew the radiator hose off of the truck, and Kaylie made him change a brake so he understood how hard fixing these carriages can be. We were there a long time, they were there a long time. If you want specifics on how it works, however, you’re better off asking him.”

“YOU SAID…STEAM POWER?”, Janne answered with eyes big as saucers and quickly ran away towards the tangerine tank.

TO BE CONTINUED

(Might contain valuable info for @MrdjaNikolen and @Elizipeazie )

Also, @BannedByAndroid , thanks for giving me some names of cities in Ariya, Sanju is now officially the home of IP.

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