[IC] Midnight Answers [Katkook & Bee]

[KatKook]

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"A night to remember."

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_{Streets of Downtown Tilview}

"Good evening racers! Tonight is a big night for you rookies out there! Crews all over Tilview are recruiting so show them what you got and earn your place it to the top! Now, we're getting reports live of new people flooding in from all over the world, maybe we'll see what's to come or perhaps we'll see something complete new! As we wait for the w"

Click! Thump! Shift! Steph's grip tightened on her steering wheel, she needed to see for herself if anyone could handle helping her get to Venom. She turned into an alley in a blink of an eye to take a short cut then turned into another with grace and fluidity. She looked down at the glove compartment which had a police scanner on it and listened but it as quiet, no activity whatsoever? It was a little too convenient for that to be the case. She shook her head and told herself to loosen up, it is going to be a fun night; it was practically a huge welcoming party. As she was lost in thought she heard her phone ring, she clicked a button on her steering wheel to answer the call.

"Hey S! Rookies are coming, you comin'?" Asked Merc, he usually ran daytime races but he wanted to see the rookies for himself

"I'm on my way! Rooks are blocking the road ya' know?" Sin replied.

"Alright man, anyway I got you a parking spot, but you gotta hurry, I can't hold this spot any longer." Merc said before Steph hung up.

She shifted gears and got there as fast as she can, taking dangerous turns, driving on oncoming traffic, and drifting through tight corners. Her eyes darted around as she had to take in her surroundings every time she had to make a split second decision on which direction to go. Her Z could only handle so much, but it has been known to be able to take Steph's style of driving and drifting.

Not long after she arrived at the meetup, hundreds of people gathered at Mckenna Airfield, this run down airstrip that has been converted to one hell of a racing and meet up spot. This place was practically untouchable by the police since this place is too loved by the people here.

As she parked and got out of her car, she was barely able to get a greeting for Merc since he was immediately taken by people and he disappeared into the crowd. She shook her head and sat on the hood of her car, her eyes bounced from tuners to muscles to exotics trying to see if there was anyone she fancied. As of now, no one. She hoped that someone would come along this year in hopes to have some fun with. She was fast alone, but being alone has never been fun. She looked over her shoulder and saw the drag races going on behind her; muscle junkies trying to flex their cars only to get beaten by a hyper tuned JDM driver. A tale as old as time. This year is definitely more interesting than the last. And what cemented that fact was that Venom was actually here, people looked but did not dare to get close, it was like they had a forcefield around them.

Even here, they are feared.

But Steph knew someone would come along and change that.

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[Bee]

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A dim amber light shined on Hana's face as she and her Honda S2000 entered the streets of Tilview. A low rumble from the four cylinder, two-liter engine filled the cabin as Hana looked out at the glowing city lights that filled the streets of Tilview. Tilview was one of the hottest street racing destinations in the entire country. For those familiar with the street racing scene, it was practically impossible to not hear about the hottest street racing destination since the city of Los Angeles was invented. Constantly, there were stories of antics from Tilview being passed around like a blunt at a college party. Hana was definitely no stranger to news about this city either. Hana was informed of a meetup in some sort of airfield in this city. Being from another city, Hana decided it was time to pack it up and move on after conquering the street racing scene of her original city.

Tilview seemed like a more appropriate challenge for her. A few days prior, Hana packed up everything she had and set her sails for Tilview. There was nothing for her in that city anymore. It was her old stomping grounds, sure, but there was no way she had any chance to grow if she kept stomping the same people over and over again. Tilview was written in the stars for Hana, and she was here to capitalize on it. Rolling down the window, the street racer could definitely hear what she identified as the sounds of various exhausts and cars. The city was still somewhat unfamiliar to her, as it would be to most newcomers, but she had a feeling she'd get the hang of the city pretty quickly.

Hana found herself on a sprawling freeway on the outskirts of the city, mysteriously empty for this time of night on this day. Not like Hana minded anyway. That just allowed her and her car to stretch her legs. Hana took a glance around, seeing various red lights head toward a large hangar of sorts. There was no doubt in her mind that was the so-called airfield that everyone gathered at. She'd found it. Now to get there. Hana shifted down, before mashing the throttle down to speed up as she made her way down the freeway. The S2000's tires chirped as it sought traction, before grabbing it and planting itself onto the ground. The next exit surely pointed her in the direction of the airfield.

Coming down a ramp and onto a long, narrow street - Hana's headlights illuminated a paved path all the way to the airfield. There weren't many cars coming down this way for whatever reason, but another quick glance around showed other cars making their way to the airfield from all sorts of different directions. There were definitely different ways to get into the airfield, but why weren't people coming down this way? Hana was curious -- perhaps she'd find out the answer later on as she got familiar with the people of Tilview. Hana only got closer to the airfield as time went on, the various headlights illuminating the airfield and the sound of exhausts got louder.

Hana eventually got onto the airfield, and she could see cars of all sorts. This racing scene was no joke. Hana could see cars of all sorts -- whether it'd be exotic cars tuned to the gills, Japanese tuners with wheels as perpendicular to the ground as possible, and trucks that were tall enough to scale small buildings. This place had it all. Hana kept her window rolled up as she found a spot to park her car, glancing around at potential competition. She'd beaten them all -- tuned supercars, muscle cars, cars lighter than an ant -- she knew how to handle it all. However, a closer look at the cars on the airfield revealed that there seemed to be cars with similar paint schemes and liveries parked close to each other. Did... they have factions here? Were there racing gangs here?

This wasn't new territory for Hana, but she definitely did not experience things to this extent. Eventually, Hana found herself a spot, closer to the middle of the airfield as she backed into the spot nestled in between a Dodge Charger Hellcat and a BMW M3. Before she got out, Hana put on her sunglasses, she knew the sheer amount of flashiness and lights here were going to be a lot to deal with. Not to mention, it helped with the amount of eyes that would inevitably be on her. If there was one thing about a group like this - they knew when someone was new, and it showed as Hana got out of the car.

"Sheeeeeeesh."

"Damn. I wonder if she can actually drive that thing...."

[KatKook]

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_{McKenna Airfield}

Damn...

Steph's eyes were sharp, Rookies were crazy this year, maybe this is the year she races with them to see what they are made of. She pushed herself off the hood of her car to have a look at some of the rides that were present in view. Since she is one of the best drifters in Tilview she often looked at cars that were suitable to her specialty, and how people all over the world carried their JDMs. Skylines, RX-7s, Supras, Evos, you name it, they were present every step of the way.

She brushed her hair to the side, and pulled out her phone, she took one selfie to send to her roommate and her boyfriend. She did not smile much but it was not like you could see it anyway, she wore a black facemask since it was hella cold and windy during this time of year, she rocked a brown leather jacket with a black bodysuit top which exposed her hips a little, and gray ripped jeans. After taking a few pictures of the cars, she spotted an S2000 in the corner of her eyes, she tapped her white high cut on the ground and took a step towards it. The girl by it seemed to know her stuff, the thing looked like one hell of a hidden demon; people who would not know better would probably underestimate it, and with the Firehawks here in McKenna too, it probably would not take too long for that to happen.

She took a step towards the owner but before she could even talk to her about her car, her phone buzzed. She took her phone out and read a text from Merc, saying that Tony wanted to see her race tonight and has a spot specifically for her and whoever she wants to bring since she probably has a favourite already, but if she could not find anyone he was going to throw in another rookie. Steph smiled and looked up at the girl she was going to talk to.

"This seemed all too convenient Tony," She laughed, "Wonder if you got your crew looking at me again." She then looked around to see if anyone was looking at her, but through the crowd of people she would have to be an expert at Where's Waldo to even find anyone in this time of night. She shrugged and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Hey Rook." She called out to the owner of the S2000, she pointed to a circuit behind her, "Got a race with your name on it, you up for the challenge?" She asked, smiling, but she was still wearing her mask so it was not like the girl would be able to see her smile anyway. She walked even closer to have a look at the car up close she ran her hand on one of the headlights and crouched down to have a look at the rims. She could not help but smile at this rookie's taste, she really knows her stuff. "Out of everyone here, you're the only one here who seems to know a thing or two about cars like these." she brushed her hair back after she stood back up and pulled down her mask to show her face.

"Welcome to Tilview Rook, the only city where the night is brighter and busier than the day." Said Steph.

Maybe Merc was right, maybe Steph does like to pick favourites.

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[Bee]

Hana looked up as she heard a voice speak at her. The street racer was hadn't expected someone to approach her so quickly, but her previous intuition about their senses was only confirmed as she stared at the girl in front of her. Of course, it was hard to tell where exactly Hana was looking, given her eyes were concealed behind a pair of sunglasses. Hana stayed quiet as the girl in front of her pointed at a course behind her. Based on the way it was being set up, it looked like it had its bounds and limits clearly defined. None of that scrambling shit. That played into Hana's favor -- it took her lack of knowledge about the city out of the equation and it made individual driving skill more of a factor.

"A race?" Hana tilted her sunglasses down, showing her dark brown eyes as she made eye contact with the masked girl. "I'm interested." Hana said, before watching the girl in front of her examine her car. Seemed like she really knew what Hana actually had, which was a change for once. People saw the dinky little Honda that Hana drove and assumed it was just another lawnmower. That was far from the truth -- considering that this was one of the most agile cars to ever exist. Sure, it didn't have quite the same amount of top-end that Lamborghinis and whatnot had, but it more than made up for it in its cornering prowess. Where heavier, faster cars failed, her lighter, quicker car prevailed.

"Yeah. I'm glad someone appreciates what I've got." Hana said, putting her sunglasses back up as she looked at more cars make their way around the airfield. "Where do I sign up?" Hana asked, before putting her hand into her pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and holding it in her hand. "I can buy in, too." Hana said. The way she did things where she came from -- they always had a purse and a buy-in. Racing was different when there was money on the line. There were always egos and pride involved, but money introduced an entirely different breed of tension, often for the better. "Five Gs good?"

[KatKook]

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_{McKenna Airfield}

Steph raised her brow, she looked the girl up and down before laughing at the girl's enthusiasm to earn some cash on her first night. She walked up close to her and pushed the hand of the girl which held the money down back to her pocket. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Whoa hey now Rook, appreciate the enthusiasm but," she got beside the girl and pointed out the races going on, "Tonight ain't about bank, tonight is all about showing Tilview how good you are."She then took a step back and crossed her arms, blowing the bit of hair that got her in face to the side. "You make a name for yourself tonight, someone or a crew might pick you up, hell, that someone could even be me." She added giving the girl a quick wink and flashing her a quick smile. "But hey, if you really wanna race for cash..." She fished a rolled up wad from her pocket, "I'll double what you got if you win." She then pulled out her phone and asked for the girl's number, so they can talk while they are racing, "Don't you want to hear me complain if you pass me?... If." She then gave her a small smug stare before not even letting her answer and finishing the conversation with, "Deal? Perfect. Now follow me, I'll be in the white fairlady." She instructed, she pulled up her mask and started walking backwards before turning to walk normally.

She then gave the rookie a quick little nod and made her way back to her car, sliding in the driver's seat and driving down the path. She stopped in front of the rookie and rolled the window down, gesturing with her head to come follow. She sent a quick text to Tony and watched as the Rookie got in her car, and as soon as she did she pressed a button and activated a little Tilview magic.

"Hey Rook, you can hear me right?" She spoke on comms with the Rookie, "What can I say? Tilview is pretty crazy with stuff like this, kind of a technological advancement if you ask me." She then continued to make her way through the crowd until she got to the back of a 10 person race. She slotted herself at number 10 and spoke once more, "Take the 9th spot rook, I like passing everyone." She said, she could not help but a little cocky sometimes but that is how Steph is sometimes.

"Show me what you got."

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[Bee]

As Hana sat back in her car, there was a slight smirk on her face as the girl who spoke to her offered to double her buy-in. Ten grand? Hana was stupid to not oblige. As she sat back in her seat, Hana sighed a bit, before holding down the button that turned her car on. Hearing her car roar to life once again, the exhaust burbled as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. An unidentified number showed on her screen, but it didn't take a genius to figure out who exactly was the one who was calling. Sliding her thumb to the right, Hana picked the call up, hearing the lady's voice on the phone. "Yeah, I read you." This lady was pretty enthusiastic for sure. Maybe she just liked to beat up on rookies? Hana wasn't entirely sure what her angle was, but she was her ticket into the Tilview street racing scene.

Seeing the white Fairlady roll out, Hana put the clutch in, shifting into first gear as the car rolled forward and behind the Nissan as they made their way to the starting grid. Hana was ready to deal with whatever was on the grid. She expected a good balance -- exotics, muscle, tuners, the works. And, it was pretty easy to figure out who knew their shit and who didn't. At least, in Hana's experience. Those whose cars were flashier more than anything typically lacked the driving ability to do their car true justice. She'd seen many a fancy Lamborghini get obliterated by something that was perceived as inferior. It was the way the cookie crumbled sometimes.

Letting the car roll up, Hana obliged and let her buddy take the very last spot on the grid. It was an unusual choice to the untrained eye, but people who willingly picked to start from the back were very rarely ever people who could be fucked with. That was the person to be scared of and knew what the fuck they were doing. Hana lined her car up, the dark purple S2000 lined up behind what was a newer Ford Mustang, with an exhaust wide enough to fit a fist through. Chances were - that Mustang was going to spin out immediately. Hana put the car in neutral, ready to launch the car when the race started. "So, how many laps is this? 3? 5?" Hana asked, glancing over at the white Nissan.

[KatKook]

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_{McKenna Airfield}

"Well its-..."

Steph's phone then buzzed, an incoming call from the host who was directly in front of her, sporting his white Acura NSX 1991. Steph blinked and looked forward to see the nice looking car in front of her and could not help but smile at his tacky custom license plate spelling "S33 Y4". She then clicked on conference call on her phone which put Tony on call with the Rookie.

"Glad you could make it S! I knew you couldn't resist this year." Said Tony, his thick Spanish accent coming through the comms. "So, who's your friend?" He asked.

Steph stayed silent for a little bit because she did not know the name of the Rookie at all, "Uh... Dunno' actually. But she's acting for the laps." She stated.

"Oh! It's 5 laps with one Joker lab where you gotta take the long way at the end of the runway after the second turn." Said Tony, the light then flashed red and Tony laughed on the phone, "Let's see what these Rookies got."

"You ready Rook?" She asked, turning towards the girl's car.

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[Bee]

Hana looked at the light, before glancing over at the lady's Fairlady. Hana nodded, "Ready." The racer looked ahead, revving her car all the way to the 9000 RPM it was so capable of. A joker lap, huh? That was something she'd hardly ever heard of outside of rallycross, but she figured things would be different here in Tilview. The strategy was still the same though. She hadn't done rallycross in person but in video games, she'd always take the joker lap as soon as possible to get it out of the way and spend the rest of her time catching up. It was the same principle as pitting in a professional race. Nobody's position was their real position until the pit stop was out of the way. Same with the joker lap. The sooner she got it out of the way the sooner she could fight for her actual position.

As the second light turned on, Hana kept her car in first gear, her hand pushing down the handbrake so that it was no longer engaged. Any second, the light was going to turn green and it was time to go. Soon, the light turned green, and Hana let out the clutch as fast as she could as the car launched forward. As the S2000 tried to find traction as it launched forward, Hana immediately put it into second gear, letting the car immediately establish traction as it made its way down the first straight.

[KatKook]

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_{McKenna Airfield}

These rookies were reckless, they had no racing lines whatsoever, and were bouncing from one side of the track to the other. She shook her head and waited till the first turn. As soon as they got there, she started her drifting capabilities and drifted pass a few rookies.

She then looked at her rearview mirror to see how well the rookie in the S2000 would do against this corner. Not bad, not too bad at all, she was hella good and was passing these rookies like they were 16 year olds who had just gotten their license. She then shifted once more but the straights had never been where she shined, she was passed by a rookie and he started cheering as soon as he did. His celebration was short lived when she passed her on the next turn, drifting on the corner with grace and skill followed by the doing the exact same on the next corner and making it up a few places.

"You've got moves Rook, but are they good enough for Tilview?" She said, her eyes locked on the joker lap, marked by the yellow flags, a straight, and the long turn. Tony really knew how to bring Sin out to make sure she was going to have some fun tonight. She got as much speed as possible, then started this long drift, one of the rookies even went off road because he got distracted by the drift. She laughed a little and spoke once more, "You know," She then made it to the end of the turn and straightened out, "I never asked for your name or where you came from, mind sharing with the class?"

"Maybe I shouldn't be listening to this but I do wants to know about these rookies." Tony added.

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[Bee]

As the first corner came up, Hana sized up the corner and how it looked and progressed. Watching all of the cars in front of her, Hana knew what was coming if she didn't figure out the correct line. There was no way Hana was going to be able to do the traditional racing line, lining up on the outside and hitting the apex as best as she could. Hana got as close as she could to the car in front of her, before moving her car to the inside. Hana knew that she could outbrake a lot of these cars, considering they were all being held up by the cars in front of them and Hana had a clear line to brake. Stomping on the brakes much later, Hana heel-toed her way down a few gears, before turning the car into the turn, clipping the apex as she powered her way out.

The car squealed as it so desperately wanted to break traction and get squirrely, but Hana wanted none of that as she modulated the throttle and applied as soon as her car re-established traction. Once she was clear of the car behind her, Hana slipped back into the slipstream of the car in front of her. She must have passed quite a few cars, because she couldn't see many taillights in front of her. Keeping her foot pinned on the throttle, another turn was coming up and Hana repeated the same thing. She was more than close enough to attempt a move like that, and she had no problems executing it as she got past the guy in the MR2. "Talk later. Race now." Hana said, as she drove past the yellow flag and into the joker lap.

Seeing the turn come up, Hana was measuring her braking point with the lamp posts on the side of the street. She counted down, barely passing the second one before she mashed on the brakes, starting her turn into the long turn of the joker lap.

Coming up onto the straight leading into the joker lap, this was the time for Hana to knock it out of the way. She was going to lose a few places from doing this, but it also meant she had time to catch up. She also found herself behind the girl's Z, the white car's taillights illuminating her cabin as she followed close behind. On the straights, she had a much better exit and an advantage, but for some reason, the Z was just much faster around the corners than her own car, which was designed for this. As they came up on the joker lap, Hana heard the girl pipe up on the phone.

[KatKook]

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_{McKenna Airfield}

All business huh? Steph could respect that.

She swerved a little to correct herself as she followed the racing line especially since this rookie does look like she knows what she is doing and she would not want to throw her off her game. Well... Not yet atleast. The street of Tilview are not as careful and conceded, especially with cops crawling the city like ants.

She slid through another corner and after a few more turns and straights, the lap was done and she was off to lap two. She was gaining in positions as she saw rookies still pass up the joker lap. Steph chuckled to herself and pushed it down the straight to pass another rookie.

"Damn that rookie really shut you up! Maybe I should say that to you." Said Tony, obviously trying to lighten up the mood.

"Hey, as the rook said, race now, talk later." She added, turning on the next corner and passing another rookie. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw the rookie who was hella good with that S2000.

Could she really be the one? No... Don't assume too much Steph, you need to know a little more about her before that.

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[Bee]

Hana stuck behind the girl's Z as she tried to figure out a way behind her. It was still very hard to figure out a way to get around this Z, considering every time she tried to dive in the turn was blocked off by her car. The drifting made it very hard for her to make an advance on the inside and make a safe pass. Hana's hand was forced and she had to back off, every single time. There was no way she could make a safe pass. However, there were still a few tricks up her sleeve that she could use to try to get past this Z. Another corner was coming up and Hana was right behind the Z. It was going to be a risky move, but Hana figured it was worth trying. As they started to brake, Hana peeked inside, peering inside of the turn and making it look like she was going for a pass on the inside, before quickly switching outside and seeing if she could overtake out there.