Innovation City Circuit: Humiliation

The next day, Kubota and his Humvee rumbled into the pits of the Innovation City Circuit. Nobel jumped out of the passenger seat and began assisting in removing the straps that were holding down a covered vehicle. Kerosene, Kubota, Nobel, and the two other ambassadors pushed the car into its stall and closed the garage door. Before everyone but Nobel left, Kubota tossed him the helmet they'd brought. "Good luck, boss." 

All the drivers got into their cars behind closed garage doors as the announcer began, "Good afternoon, race fans!" Oh boy, do we have quite the lineup for you today!" The announcer rambled on for a while, then, "Now, those of you who remember the broadcast that went insane several months ago that cost Cobra Petrol over 10.9 billion in sales, yikes, but today, we have a grudge match between the CEO of Cobra Petrol, Cobra Standard. He will be driving the Cobra Petrol number one car. In the other corner, we have the newcomer turned rival, the CEO of Fusion Dynamics, Nobel Fusion, who's brought his own car? Dick, am I reading this right?" The announcer asked his partner, who promptly grabbed his microphone. 

"Yes, you are correct... AND THERE HE IS NOW!" Nobel waved out his window as the car's cam shook the track beneath it. Nobel had kept this project hidden from the world, as it was the car his father had built, and Nobel had retrofitted, upgraded, and modified. The car was a mixture of nuclear-white and nuclear-grey paint, racing tires, a uniquely tall spoiler, and a racing-designed nose cone. It was a 1969 Dodge Daytona, with the words "Fusion-Powered" painted on both the passenger and driver sides of the hood. A cassette tape's end stuck out of the deck with a tape label that read "Racing Track #17" written on it.

As Nobel took his place in dead last, the other twenty cars started their engines. He took a deep breath, pressed play on the cassette deck, and started the Daytona. The song "Hardstyle Summertime Sadness" began to play as he pushed in the clutch, shifted the car into second gear, and waited. "On your mark... Get set... SURVIVE!" Yelled the announcer. In a flurry of motors, crashes, and the green flag, Nobel dumped the clutch and lit up the tires. A wall of thick white smoke hid his launch as he bobbed and weaved around wrecks, and then emerged on the big screen. The '69 Daytona was a white and grey blur that ripped past cars, downshifting as he passed them... His heart was throbbing at the tempo as the nuclear-powered engine's high-revving, as he disappeared past the competition. 

The track turned, curved, and lifted into the air, executing all sorts of crazy maneuvers to emphasize the announcer's "SET... SURVIVE!" However, Nobel and his '69 Daytona were quickly making their way up to the top ten. As he passed two cars, he came up on Cobra and his corporate race car. With a glare from both of them, the track suddenly turned into a drifting competition. Meanwhile, the holo-displays showed the two drifting down the corkscrew track with Nobel ahead of Cobra. As they emerged, Cobra tried to pass Nobel, but found that Nobel had no intention of letting him. With his foot slamming the accelerator into the floorboards of the Daytona, Nobel shifting through the "straight-cut gears of his sequential transmission. The two cars were gaining speed, passing others as their drivetrains screamed/sang down the straightaway. 

"HOLY COW! Folks! It's a neck-and-neck battle for first place between the Petrol Performance Stock Car and the Modified, Nuclear-Powered Daytona! Standard and Fusion must be in one bitter grudge match! These two are approaching one hundred thirty miles per hour!" As they rounded the return bank, the slowed, hardstep version of the song "Die Young" thumped the Daytona's speakers. Nobel grabbed fourth gear, watching the accelerator needle climb. One hundred thirty-five... one hundred forty-five... one hundred fifty-five... The Daytona began to pull away when Cobra activated his driver's microphone. 

"You stupid son of a bitch! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cobra said to Nobel, who replied, "Teaching you a lesson!" Nobel downshifted and flattened the accelerator against the steel floorboards. The Daytona's speedometer needle kept climbing... one hundred seventy-seven... one hundred eighty... Cobra kept his foot to the floor and shifted into fifth gear, his last gear, catching up with the Daytona. "Teach me?" Boy, you don't know a damn thing about racing, running a corporation, NOTHING! YOU HEAR ME!" Cobra's stock car pulled ahead but ran out of gearing to surpass the speed of one hundred ninety-nine miles per hour.

As the Petrol Performance stock car rounded the final turn, the cameras, fans, and all viewers of the race watched as the nuclear white and grey '69 Daytona matched the stock car's speed, with open microphones for all to hear. The phonk-style song, "Lunacy", played as Nobel replied to Cobra. "Oh, I know nothing, do I? Then why is it that your company is failing, mine succeeding, but most importantly right now... why is it that I'm winning and why is sixth gear better than fifth gear?" At that moment, the bass dropped and Nobel shifted into sixth gear. The '69 Daytona's speedometer climbed as Nobel left Cobra in the dust by an entire stretch of the track: 190... 198... 200... 205...210... 212... 215... Checkered Flag.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT! FUSION BLOWS PAST STANDARD FOR THE MOST UPSETTING WIN I HAVE EVER SEEN! A record win, folks, and two hundred and fifteen miles per hour! Wait... holy shit, COBRA IS GOING AFTER THE DAYTONA!" Nobel had slowed down, but not fully. Seeing Cobra gunning at him full throttle, Nobel drifted the Daytona out of the way, sending Cobra through the pits, crashing into the used but empty mobile toilet stalls. Seeing crews run over, with track security close behind them, Nobel let out a shaky breath. 

"That moron... He just tried to... kill me? Again?"