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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 27, 2012 10:25:45 GMT -5
Venting steam. That helped. For a moment there the Lady felt her heart skipping. Spending years brooding, locked away, she had not noticed the anger which built up inside. Taking it to Brett like that was relieving. The little mechanic honestly felt at home again.
She felt like doing something stupid, or exhilirating. Something familiar. Her left hand gripped at the stearing wheel while her right wrenched at the shifter, "Speed," Nicola licked her lips, almost immediately applying pressure to the gas pedal. Curse wailed while passing through third, beginning to weave through traffic. Its aura licked off it in the pale Vegas sunlight, speed limit broken only seconds ago.
From the streetside down Desert Inn Road people familiar with the sounds of a car came out to watch. Mechanics, tuners and afficianados who had all misplaced their spirit in recent events. Something had fallen over Vegas recently to cause malcontent, Nic could not shake the feeling. A reminder had to be made for what counted in the racing society.
Flashes of red and blue coupled with the shriek of a siren indicated law enforcement had taken interest as well; only they had nothing on the two speed stars tearing up downtown, squeeling into the Boulevard and drinking in casino colours. Nicola let off her foot, powering down her window and leaning out into the breaze. She could not help but be nostalgic.
What came next answered the veil of confusing over the city. Nicola pulled Curse off of the Boulevard, trailing down East Harmon Avenue. In simple terms it looked like a bomb had gone off. The pitch black Impreza pulled over, stopping on the safe side of the fence. Looking through the chicken mesh showed a giant hole in the earth.
"There goes restocking some of those spare parts. Seems I'll be importing from go knows where," Nicola said out loud to the missing suburb, sitting on the bonnet of the Subaru, "What the hell happened to Paradise?" she scratched her fringe out of her face.
"War would be pretty accurate," one pedestrian passing by chimed in, "Nothin' more, nothing less. You've missed it by a couple of months," he continued down the road.
Folding her arms in disbelief, "There you go. That's why the streets are so quiet," for most of the city to already be cleaned up meant Lucky and herself must have missed the entirety of it. Any longer and the hole would have been filled up leaving them completely out of the loop, "Don't s'pose you'd know anyone local, or otherwise, who might know someone who could get me some replacement stock?" Nicola suddenly asked Lucas, now out of numerous options.
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Post by KR0R1C on Mar 28, 2012 8:44:42 GMT -5
The little frankenstien lucas drove proved to have enough giddyup to keep up the curse as the duo bobbed and weaved around downtown Vegas. Nostalgia washed over the cab of the car as the police lights flashed. It wasnt too long though before the pigs realized they never stood a chance at catching the two speeding hatchbacks.
The team pulled up to a fence and you could hear the propellers in the turbos spinning down out the back of the exhausts just before the engines cut off. Getting out of their cars the damage on the otherside became clear. It looked as if a bomb had been set off in the middle of the city.
"Wha'tha'hell?" Mumbled Lucas as he approached the fence.
Listening to the discussion behind him apparently a war had occurred. It did peak Luckys curiosity as to why someone would target a car shop for something like that. But that would explain why crowds gathered to watch the speeding Subaru's run through the city. Something had scared the rest of them into going indoors. As if reading his mind.
"There you go. That's why the streets are so quiet. Don't s'pose you'd know anyone local, or otherwise, who might know someone who could get me some replacement stock?"
Turning and leaning against the fence lucky pulled a pack of cigarettes from random pocket on his folded down coveralls. Lighting up he took a drag as he pondered what to do next.
"My people're all down 'round Phoenix. Don' s'pose you'd wanna go that far ta restock."
He rolled around more ideas, and memories hoping something would jog a plan into his mind. It suddenly remembered that some of his old crew; the muscle car type, slung parts from a stealer-ship in Vegas.
"Hey aint there an American Hotrod place here? Ya know all the Camaros, Stangs, and Chargers? Big v8's and all that?"
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 28, 2012 10:15:08 GMT -5
"I swear you're gonna blurt out every damn location on the waiting list," Nicola smiled, "Like I said. We'll be dropping in on the American. Sooner rather than later considering half of the manufacturers in town just fell down a hole," with a spin of her keys she turned from the destructive sight returning to Curse's side, "Keep your pants on hillbilly," Curse's beep of being unlocked nearly added to the insinuation. Nicola stabbed the ignition, quickly looking up at the derelict suburb in reflection. Vegas truly was in disarray. She hoped Shelby was alright. In a fit of concern Curse came to life. Dirt spat forwards as she burned backwards spinning a half circle and taking off, fanging around the corner. The sudden distress Nicola felt could be heard through the Subaru, screaming down the Vegas boulevard and violently dropping into the freeway through an exit facing the wrong way. The Impreza coastered across the lanes and slipped through a small break in the cement walls that seperated the freeway, skidding into the right side of the road. Flash of the fuzz came into the rear view once more. The police were onto things quicker than they used to. Nicola took it to the man; even if they were quick, there was no way they were faster than her. Pushing the shifter into 5th the speedometre clicked further and further to the 200mi mark, easily dipping over ones locked into 6th gear. Blur began to set in, tunnel vision forcing Nicola to purely focus on the tail end of cars directly in front of her. It was here in this state she hit the sweet spot. Nicola's infamous daze. Something she both dispised and revered. Sound blotted out and streams of white light entered her field of view through the windscreen. It's what a lot of drivers knew as Flow. Sometimes she had to keep the sound system kicking beats so that it would not set in. Flow was like a drug, it killed the best racers. The Lady knew she could help herself to it now and again; she was well over due for her next hit. Curse pulsed through the dry Vegas freeway cutting a dark swath in the Nevada landscape. ____________________________________________________ Headquarters of the American stood ahead of them. The massive white building shining sunlight in a holy glow. SHELBY was written across it in large, navy blue letters, indicating they were in the right place. Granted, one could tell they were at the American's HQ from all the muscle sitting out in front. One Shelby in particular caught her attention. Pausing to look over the white stallion, a pearl GT500 with blue racing stripes. Its hood had been raised showing off the meat of the muscle. A number of people were also checking out the Ford's setup, "Nice ride," Nicola lightly said while passing the group, not particularly certain who the driver was. It reminded the mechanic of her Challenger and how she still had to run it through its paces. Which also reminded her of Lucas' Stingray, and how that also needed a stress test. Definitely the next what-do on their agenda. "Hi, is Shelby in?" Nicola asked once they arrived at the front desk. Even after retirement Carroll Hall Shelby still spent time at the old HQ. For an old time pushing on 90 he did not act a day as if he were older than 20. Most of the time Nic caught him here working on his own pet project. "Sure. Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist looked new so the tuner chick didn't commence to lecture how she knew the man. "Ahh... hah," Nic leaned over the counter, "Check for Nicola Canen. I should be on the friends list," she said in a subtle hush, not entirely noteable at first. Paper flickered like an animated storybook on the receptionists desk as she checked through VIPs and friends, "I'm sorry, you aren't on the list." "Okay. Try under 'Lady', then."____________________________________________________ The elevator dinged letting the two racers onto the top floor, "You ready to meet a legend in the speedmongering business, Lucas?" Nicola asked with a faux-concerned voice, "Because if you're not ready you can wait outside or something-"
Mid sentence of Nic's jest was cut off as a wave of pain engulfed the hallway they were in, sweeping over the top floor soon followed by the fire of the epicentre's submitted position. The explosion rocket the building, shattering windows and tearing down walls. Nicola flew off her feet slamming into the chrome door of the elevator.
As if getting to her feet was not difficult enough, walking proved to be a nightmare. The bloodied racer spent the first five odd minutes crawling on her hands and knees, "Lucky," Nic asked in a horse voice, feeling her way around in the blurry vision.
A boot could be felt underhand. Giving it a tug proved it was firmly attached to a leg, and presumable from there a pelvis and so forth. Glad it had not been blown off, "Lucas," Nic could hear pained expressions from the Kentuckian, "Just stay here. Hold on."
Both elevators would be offline. Although Nicola was not interested in going down yet. She followed the black corridors as best her memory could take her, keeping hold of the wall in order to keep upright.
Light shone through the door way from the blown out window. Covering the door frame and most of the inside of the office were fiery flames licking about in the heat, "Carroll!" Nicola began limping forwards, constantly tripping in her blur.
The office had been wiped out. Ash fell from the ceiling and burnt wood covered the floor as pieces of burnt pages wafted through the air and out the destroyed window.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 28, 2012 10:48:33 GMT -5
Anton sat under a car he was being paid to work on for some chump, no nothing about cars, racer. He knew that taking the car from this guy would be all too easy. His shirt had started to collect grease and grime that his arms had long been coated with. He cursed at the car's condition, dirty, abused, and needing serious work. He slid out from under the car to take a break. His gloves were just as bad as his arms so he slid the off and placed them on the hood, leaving behind dirt.
He took a cigarette from his pocket and lite it up. He sat in a chair in the corner of the garage, watching as people looked in at Tyranny with stunned and lustful looks upon their faces. He left elbow prints on his jeans from leaning forward. His blue mechanic uniform shirt with the name Shelby in white was a mess. His break ended suddenly when the building was rocked by an explosion. He jumped up and started barking orders.
"You guys get the cars away from the building! You three go and get the people out! I am going in for Shelby!" he yelled as he jumped up and ran for the stairs.
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Post by KR0R1C on Mar 28, 2012 14:00:21 GMT -5
Rolling into the Shelby facility felt a little out of place seeing that the duo were driving ricers and everyone around was in muscle. It wasnt until Lucky noticed a few random cars emblazoned with the "Shelby" logo that he remembered the company decided to begin turning any automobile into a Shelby designed monster, for a specific price of course. They came to park just near an open garage but instead of going in that way Nic lead the way to the main entrance.
As the lady worked with the secretary Lucas stumbled around the lobby taking in all the amazing automotive history. Carroll Shelby had dedicated his entire life to the building of cars and that is something the tuner could appreciate in every form or fashion. To even be in the building of such nobility of the car world was a bit daunting. Nic retrieved Lucky and drug him out of his stupor into a shiny silver elevator.
The two stood silent until reaching to top floor.
"You ready to meet a legend in the speedmongering business, Lucas? Because if you're not ready you can wait outside or something-"
Lucky could feel a little showoff coming off of the Lady, and he was about to retort when the world felt as if it went upside down. An explosion sent the two flying through the air. Mid flight something collided with Lucas' head and made his disorientation that much worse. When he slammed the ground all air had left his body and something heavy laid across his back.
"Lucky," called out Lady. Trying to respond proved vain as only moans escaped the void in his lungs. A tug at his boot proved his existance even to himself. "Lucas, just stay here, hold on!" The ringing in his ears cause her voice to sound like needles, and her uneven footsteps sounded like the bass of a terrible techno song.
Wait. The command to speak still yet didn't escape his vocal cords. Sloppily a glass shrapnel'ed hand found its way to Lucas' head. He roughly rubbed a sore spot on his head until he felt something warm. Double vision caused it to look as if he had two right hands but either way told him the truth, his hand was covered in blood. Lucas let himself go limp until vertigo and nausea subsided. Once the floor felt as if it was no longer spinning and his vision was singular again the mechanic wrestled himself out from under a pile of air condition piping, and ceiling tiles.
His shirt was torn in various places and he had several small cuts from glass shards. Other than the wound on his head he felt he was fine. He stumbled to his feet and used his arm to balance himself against the wall. Traversing the charred, scarred, and shattered halls Lucas did his best to follow Nic.
Nic! His first attempt at speech resulted in a sound similar to a cough. "NIC!" This attempt came out louder than expected but clearly he was able to speak now. No response prompted him to move around a bit faster. "Nic!" Still no response.
Lucas finally found himself in a long hall and through a cracked door he could make out half of the lady's figure. He continued approaching the large set of double doors.
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 29, 2012 8:15:45 GMT -5
Hands and feet of the woman kicked and swiped at her surroundings desperately trying to determine what had been organic or synthetic in its past state. The little mechanic could feel herself tearing up, finding it difficult to breathe, hands shaking from the physical and mental trauma.
Adjacent walls had holes blasted through them looking into neighboring rooms. These looked slightly less destroyed than the office they stood in, displaying their own grisly scene. Someone had been sitting at their own desk during detonation, seemingly sitting directly opposite the bomb and losing the top half of their body. Other limp carcasses lay across the floors.
Emergency services were already on the scene, wailing of ambulances and fire engines rushing in with paramedics and fighters jumping out at a whim. Plenty of debris had been blasted outward from the building both injuring and killing innocent bystanders. Nobody could work out why an explosion had occurred in a place such as this. Least of all Nicola.
"I can't-" she took a deep uncoordinated breath, "Lucky I can't find him. There, there's-" the distraught girl cradeled her arms, "There's nothing left!" Shelby had always meant family to the racers he knew; Nic especially when her Uncle was seperated from her over a decade ago.
Putting her hands to her head in absolute disbelief. Gravity would not stop piling on.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 29, 2012 13:17:01 GMT -5
Anton sprinted up the stairs and slammed open the door at the top of the stairs and looked around. The building had caught fire and people littered the floor. "SHELBY!!" Anton called out, louder than the roar of the fire. He made his way through the buidling calling out every now and then. Shelby wasn't in his office, or any of the bodies on the ground as far as Anton could tell.
"Nic!" he heard being called out around the corner. He couldn't find Shelby but there was someone alive and they sounded like they needed help. In the mere minutes Anton had been in the area looking for Shelby and now this nameless survivor, he was covered in not only grease from the car but now soot and ash. His hair had become messy, sweaty and greasy, but looks are hardly what matter when lives are at stake. He rounded a corner and found a younger man following someone who just went through a set of doors.
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Post by KR0R1C on Mar 29, 2012 14:27:07 GMT -5
Stepping into the room displayed a terrible and gruesome scene. This portion of the building obviously took more damage than the side Lucas had just came from. And his heart sank through the floor when he saw the remains of the people who had been in the room during the explosion. Lady had just finished searching the room frantically and suddenly became still as a statue.
"I can't-," the small tuner girl fought for her next breath. "Lucky I can't find him. There, there's... There's nothing left!"
Lucas wrapped the collapsing girl in his arms and turned her away from the mess. He understood the pain she would be feeling and he knew he needed to be there for her right now. He felt the need to be solid for her sake, even when the very building around them groaned threatening to give any moment. Holding her tight he scanned the room noticing that the fires were rapidly spreading. He shook off the feeling of being light headed that was slowly creeping up on him. Not sure if it was from the still bleeding wound on the side of his head, or from the gathering smoke in the room.
"Im so sorry Nic. But we need to move now."
Guiding her along he turned and headed back they way he'd came. It was then that he noticed a mechanic. He was unmistakable given his oil stained hands and blue work clothes. The guy stood just outside the double doors as if he'd been looking for them.
"Hey! How do we get outta here? This place probably wont hold much longer."
The guy had obviously had enough heart to come back in for someone. Maybe it wasn't Lucky and Nic but hopefully he would help them all the same. Lucas would follow the mechanic back to the stairwell and hopefully out of the building before more lives would be lost.
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 29, 2012 19:13:35 GMT -5
As the situation stands, mental capacity was not the only thing hold her body down. The atmosphere inside the building had been compromised, the fact any of them were standing meant things were yet to turn bad. Somewhere in the building a fire alarm went off; the fact the reticulation system was yet to come online meant the explosiong had damaged it hard enough. There was not much to keep the fires at bay.
Nicola could feel herself being most carried. If it were not for Lucky to lean on she likely would have fallen over already. Leaving the burning room brought another person into the picture; a mechanic, definitely not someone who was in the building at the time. Judging by his messy, garage working appearance he had been out with the rides at the time. Everyone else on the top floor was either dead of evacuated, "He's not here, no one is," Nic said to the guy, assuming he had been on the search for Shelby or any other living humans who had been hard at work at the time.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 29, 2012 20:24:20 GMT -5
Anton rushed to aid the two, they looked to have been caught in the blast so they must need help. He helped the younger man carry the young lady. They both seemed hurt but he was better off than she was. The young man asked him to help them get out and that's what he was going to do. When the girl told him what he already found out, he simply nodded and guided them towards the stairs he came from.
Anton had a slight worry about Susie, but he knew she was going to be fine since she was outside during the blast. He could hear the sirens outside over the roar of the fire. Anton walked with the pair aiming for the stairs.
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Post by KR0R1C on Mar 31, 2012 9:07:50 GMT -5
The mechanic didnt say much, instead he chose action as his means of communication. He lead them through halls back to a staircase. Groans and rumbles of charred, twisting metal made the building sound as if in pain. Flames were still spreading and the halls were filling with dark smoke. This forced the three to walk hunch backed below the toxic fumes.
They descended the stairwell which was luckily well reinforced. About halfway down the spiraling staircase another explosion shook the building from some unknown corner forcing everyone to the outermost handrails. Dust and soot fell free peppering the stairs and covering the three's head and shoulders.
They finally made their exit in the garage near where Lucas and Nic had parked. They turned the corner only to find the civic frankenstein crushed by a large chunk of concrete that had fallen off the building. Curse however was perfectly fine, ironic given the Subaru's name.
"So much for Brett's ride." Lucas hadnt grown much of an attachment for the car, he didnt really like Civic's anyway, especially not the hatchback. "Come on we gotta get outta here!" Nic still felt a bit shaken up so he offered to drive for her. "Hey guy! You comin' 'er what?" He called over to the mechanic who seemed hung up in the garage.
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 31, 2012 9:40:13 GMT -5
Fresh air filled their lungs as the three barreled out of the fire escape stairwell. Nicola stumbled out into the open, wheezing, plus still feeling the heave of sorrow. She leant on her knees, hanging her head. From the other end of the car park a team of firefighters raced over.
"Hey we got some more over here!" one shouted, looking back to his friends as he galloped along, waving his arm in a massive crescent to get their attention, "Are you folks alright?" he asked once he were closer, baggy fire retardant clothing made him seem broad while still short. The fireman put a hand on Nicola's shoulder, gently pushing her to see her face. The lady mechanic shrugged him off with a scowl. The fireman got the message, leaving her to check on two Southerners.
Almost appearing out of thing air from the inconsiderate gesture, a pair of police officers arrived power walking up to the three ash covered, bomb blast victims, "Pardon me. Can we ask some questions," one of the boys in blue spoke, more of a demand than a request.
Nicola still leant forwards, palms pressing into her knee caps. As the fighter before, one of the officers pushed her shoulder to get her attention, "Ma'am ah-"
"Get off me!" the distressed girl cried backpeddaling away from the officer.
Now this had attention of both the law enforcers, the other chiming in, "Excuse me, miss, if you don't co-operate we'll-" he made the same mistake as his friend, this time grabbing Nicola's shoulder.
Her auburn hair flashed as she snapped her elbow back past her head and threw her fist, crunching into the officers nose and splitting his aviators in two, bringing the law enforcer to the ground. His partner was already retaliating drawing out a device from his holster; twin pins launching out and smacking into Nic's chest.
Convulsing and falling to the ground, the girl spasmed from 40 thousand volts. The officer let up after a second, taking the time she was incapacitated to handcuff her and speak her rights. The world ceased to shake after a minute or so of the unpleasant sensation, and she was picked up.
Nicola dug her fingers into her back pocket and flicked out her keys, "Just take Curse back to The Shop, Lucas," Nic spoke while resisting being pulled along, "I'll see you later. Or something," she nodded reassurance, conceding to the officers pushes and returning her head to its hung state. Meanwhile, the other law enforcer held a handkerchief to his nose.
With a RAP sheet like Nicola's being taken down to the depot would not have been very appealing. At the same time for a girl like her, this was not the first occaision, and would not be the last time the smooth talker wriggled her way out of a sentence. In the City of Sin, money spoke.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 31, 2012 11:39:07 GMT -5
Anton guided the pair out of the fire and through the garage. The building moaned and groaned as it died. So many memories and friendships died with the building. The building shook again with another explosion, most likely natural with what was happening around them. They finally were out of the building after what seemed like forever only to be ambushed by law enforcement and fire fighters.
The police came around for questioning, like anyone covered head to toe in ash and soot would know how it happened. The cause was probably walking around the crowd. Anton watched almost helplessly as the younger lady punched one of the cops in the nose before being tazed and cuffed. When she said the word Curse, Anton knew who she was.
Anton turned to the kid and ask "Kid, who're you and how do ya know the Lady?"
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Post by KR0R1C on Apr 3, 2012 9:39:32 GMT -5
Lucas jumped like a dog on a leash as the cops began tasing Nic. The two firemen saw what was going on and assisted the police by holding Lucky back. Rage went through the roof the tuner never liked cops anyway. They all hid behind their badges and pranced around like they ran the show.
"COWARD BASTARDS!" He yelled from behind the wall of firemen. "Some balls you got pigs, havin' ta taze a woman!" At this point the fire fighters began pushing back on Lucas seeing that he was about to go postal. The redneck shoved the both of them nearly knocking them down with the sudden burst of strength. "Get offa me 'fore I whoop yer asses too!"
By this time Nic had already stopped convulsing and was in cuffs. "Just take Curse back to the shop Lucas. I'll see you later, or something." She tossed the keys with the little bit of leverage she had from within the cuffs. Still livid Lucas snatched the key ring off the concrete. As they stuffed the lady into the back of a cruiser the mechanic called out. "Kid, who're you and how do ya know the Lady?"
Anger poisoned Lucky's words as he spoke under his breath. "Call me kid again and I'll break you." He knew as the words left his mouth that it was uncalled for. With a deep breath Lucas forced himself to a calmer state after everything that had just happened. "Sorry 'bout that. Name's Lucas. And I ran into Nic up in Chicago a while back been rollin' wit' 'er ever since." He held out a dirty, oil-stained, callused hand. "Thanks fer helpin' us in there."
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Post by Dark Nomad on Apr 3, 2012 10:35:35 GMT -5
Anton took the hand with his equally dirty and rough hands and said "Name's Anton, but, ev'ryone calls me S.C. Bet ya can' guess where I'm from. And that there's Susie." As he pointed to the blonde walking their way. "So we gunna go after them, or she gunna be okay? Ya know, show 'em what a pair a balls look like, cause I ain' uhfraid of gettin' mah hands dirtier." he added on as he walked Susie and Lucky over to Tyranny. He popped the truck and undid his mechanic shirt and threw it in. He kept on the black t-shirt that he was wearing underneath. He then pulled out a cigarette, since what he needed in his lungs was more smoke, and lit it with his black zipo. He then turned to offer one to Lucky, but not Susie since she doesn't smoke.
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