Shadow & Drift Kings — Episode 2: "Denial's Price"
Cold Open — The Calls
The Jesko still steamed from Skyline's downhill S. Sirens chewed the night three turns back, civilian units chasing ghosts they'd never catch.
Three signals blazed on Gin's console:
• Hero School Call: "We can protect you."
• Villain School Call: "We can make you invincible."
• Private Ping — Mechanic: "Keep saying no."
Gin's hand hovered above the console. His heart was too steady again, that scary calm that meant the Drift Core was listening.
He hit reject all. The Jesko hummed at idle, rain tapping its carbon skin.
The calls came back instantly, louder this time. He yanked the cradle out of its port. Sparks spit across his thigh. The Jesko didn't need a phone to speak; its dash bled new text, like the grid itself wanted him enslaved:
DISPATCH NOTICE — Unauthorized Capture Detected.
Target: Gin, Jesko Absolut.
Status: Fugitive.
Bounty: 500 EXP. Live. Immediate.
Every hunter on the East Grid just got the same text.
⸻
Act I — The Chase Turns
Gin swore under his breath and dropped the Jesko into second. The rear snapped, smoke and water mixing into a white scream.
He'd captured one Grindhouse car illegally. That meant the schools weren't going to "recruit" him anymore—they'd send every crew within range to eat his bones and wear the Jesko like a trophy.
Skyline's S turned into a warzone.
• Hero crews with flashing strobes came in neat lines, forming barricades like they were the law.
• Villain packs fanned wide, howling through comms, promising his car stripped to the axles.
• Even independent rogues—junk-level racers in hatchbacks with half-bolted kits—joined, hoping for free EXP.
A thousand headlights made the rain look like bullets.
Gin dropped gears and whispered it again: "No."
The Drift Core answered.
The Jesko spun sideways, cutting through Hero barricades like a blade. They tried to box him; he slid into gaps that didn't exist, carving around them as if their geometry was wrong and his was right.
EXP pings exploded across his console, not from captures—those crews crashing into each other chasing him.
Behind him, radio chatter boiled:
• "That's not physics—!"
• "He's… he's anchoring drifts—"
• "Cut him off before he unlocks another lock—"
Gin didn't know what another lock meant, but the panic in their voices was sweeter than the Jesko's exhaust.
⸻
Act II — Crew of Ghosts
He broke free of the skyline, ripping into the industrial docks. Rusted cranes loomed, shadows taller than churches. No civilians here. Just wet steel and old oil.
The Jesko's tires hissed across cracked asphalt. He killed the lights. Only the rain and the faint glow of exhaust marked him.
Then a voice cut through his comms—low, female, with smoke around the vowels.
"Alone's a death wish. But I like that."
Gin scanned the mirrors. Three cars rolled in beside him, not hostile—yet.
• A beat-to-hell RX-7, body scabbed with patch-panels, paint burned off like war paint.
• A blacked-out Mustang, engine loping like a drunk heavyweight.
• A Toyota Crown lowered to hell, its underglow dead, its stance aggressive but not gaudy.
They flanked him without touching. Hunters didn't ride in peace unless they were making an offer.
The RX-7 driver leaned half-out her window, cigarette dangling. Blue eyes under smeared eyeliner. "Name's Kai. We're dead men walking too. You want a crew?"
Gin said nothing. Crews were debts, loyalties, weights.
Kai smirked. "Don't talk then. Drift talks for you. You cut three crews tonight. That Jesko stock shouldn't have moved like that. That means you've got a secret. Secrets attract bullets. So either you get eaten alone, or you run with us and maybe die slower."
The Mustang rumbled agreement. The Crown stayed silent but close.
Gin glanced at the console. Bounty pings still stacked. EXP reward for his capture had doubled. Every hunter in the zone was on the way.
"No crew," Gin muttered finally, voice dry as rust.
Kai flicked ash. "Wrong answer. We're already running with you."
⸻
Act III — Baptism in Fire
The docks lit up like a war movie. Dozens of crews poured in, heroes with strobes, villains with warpaint, rogues with desperation. All hunting the Jesko.
Gin's comm filled with screaming, bets, curses.
• "Take his front axle!"
• "Box him—don't let him drift!"
• "Five hundred EXP, boys, he's ours—"
Kai's RX-7 darted past him, laying smoke. The Mustang bulldozed a rogue hatchback into a container stack. The Crown sliced surgical lines, clinical in its brutality.
And Gin? He breathed. Calm. Too calm.
The Jesko slid sideways into the first blockade, carving geometry like a knife across a throat. He didn't ram—he passed. Each car he overtook pinged:
CAPTURE: Rogue 01 — +200 EXP
CAPTURE: Rogue 02 — +150 EXP
The EXP ticker raced.
But the Jesko shuddered. A warning lit up:
Drift Core — Stress 78%
Overuse at low level: Neural Burn risk.
His skull throbbed. Each "no" he whispered to the laws of physics echoed like a hammer inside his brain.
"Gin!" Kai's voice cut through, urgent now. "You're burning it too hot. You keep anchoring like that, you'll bleed out before prestige ten."
He didn't answer. Another blockade loomed, six cars wide. Heroes. Villains. Rogues. United by greed.
Gin's heart stayed steady.
He breathed. Whispered: "No."
The Jesko broke reality again, carving a new line where none existed. Metal screamed around him. Sparks lit the rain like gunfire.
CAPTURE: Hero Crew x3 — +1,200 EXP
LEVEL UP — 2 → 4
His vision swam red. The Jesko howled like a beast too big for the cage.
⸻
Act IV — The Aftermath
The docks looked like an apocalypse. Burned rubber, twisted metal, flames licking barrels. The Jesko idled in the chaos, its body stock but scarred, cage welds gleaming in firelight.
Kai's RX-7 pulled beside him, door dented, cigarette still glowing. She grinned like a wolf.
"Congratulations, Jesko boy. You just started a war."
The Mustang roared its agreement. The Crown stayed quiet, headlights like eyes that saw too much.
Gin's console pinged one more time.
SYSTEM ALERT — Unauthorized Core Detected.
DRIFT CORE: "Denial" — Active. Lock 1/5.
Schools Consensus: Terminate or Recruit.
And then two simultaneous messages appeared:
• Hero School: "Come in. We'll erase your bounty."
• Villain School: "Run with us. We'll triple your bounty into rewards."
Kai exhaled smoke. "Told you. Secrets attract bullets. So… who's your crew, Jesko?"
Gin tightened his grip on the wheel. The Drift Core whispered in his chest. Every instinct told him to say it again: No.
But the world wasn't going to let him stay neutral forever.
⸻
Ending Cliffhanger
Sirens closed in again. Hundreds of hunters on his tail. Both schools demanding his answer. A new crew orbiting him whether he wanted them or not.
Gin revved the Jesko, stock body kits creaking, engine growling like a secret about to be screamed.
He didn't pick a school. He didn't pick a crew. He whispered one word, and the car obeyed.
"No."
The Jesko launched into the fire, carving a line into night.