Engines roared and everybody put the peddle to the metal. However, three individuals blasted forward thanks to a speed boost. Accelerating right at GO gave them a bonus for good timing. Gamer and Sonia were two of them, though they had to weave through the racers who didn't time it right. They, along with Vulcan, took the lead immediately.
"Ha! It worked! Sweet Heart was right," Gamer kept his eyes on each of his mirrors. Sonia tailed him, and Vulcan was slightly ahead.
"Should we bust out the weapons?" Asterion asked, tempted to push certain buttons on the dashboard.
"Not yet. We only have a limited amount, and I want to make it count," Gamer held off. He noticed Sonia didn't pass him, and found it odd. Knowing her speed from before, she could easily pull ahead. What was she waiting on?
"Brace for impact!" Minnie chirped.
Vulcan's speeder decelerated and slammed into the side of the beetle. Gamer maintained control, but the windows on the passenger side shattered. Vulcan's cockpit opened and he glared heroically at the trio. They continued grinding metal while going at high speeds.
"I knew you were dastardly, Gamer, but now I see you for the true evil you are!" Vulcan declared.
"What are you talking about?" Gamer was confused by the sudden accusation.
"Carbon emissions are a leading factor in the death of many animals. Important insects die due to old-fashioned, fossil fuel cars like this one!" Vulcan voiced his concern. His eco-friendly message baffled the beetle bunch. The captain was a staunch defender, "Think of the ladybugs, Gamer! The ladybugs!"
Vulcan dramatically glanced to the side of the road as they passed by a ladybug on a flower petal. One of the lackatoes did a cinematic zoom in on the ladybug. It laid on its back, with harried breaths, and looked faint. The ladybug said in a strained, tiny voice, "Fuck you, Gamer..."
"It's a goddamn video game!" Gamer barked at the video boards and Vulcan. The crowd erupted with boos and chanted for Vulcan's fists of justice.
Vulcan's cockpit closed shut and he moved away from Ego. His racer began to vibrate, and a bright outline coated it in green.
Asterion gasped, "Gamer, avoid that at all costs! He's about to rip us in two!"
The Red Roman started to spin sideways like a boomerang. It maintained its velocity and veered towards Ego. Gamer slammed on the brakes and narrowly avoided the vehicular slaughter. That's when energy blasts flew by from behind. The scrub player on the purple hoverbike was firing at Sonia and Ego. A couple blasts hit the backside of the beetle, but it held strong. The rest of the racers were coming in hot.
"Watch it!" Asterion yanked on the wheel. It caused the beetle to swerve and kick up onto its passenger side tires, but Vulcan's boomerang technique missed again as he tried spinning into Ego's front side. It barreled by, and headed for the bikers behind them.
"Bombs away!" Samira ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)
Gamer smashed one of the modified buttons on the dashboard. Ego's trunk opened and dropped a couple explosives right onto the track. Once in close proximity to the other racers, they erupted. Road debris and flames covered the raceway, and engulfed Vulcan, Sonia, and the scrub.
"Yeees..." Sweet Heart's orgasmically watched the video boards, which showcased the mayhem.
"We should have paid extra for some weapon boxes to be strewn across the road," one of the councillors pat his knee. "Nothing like vehicular demolition to get a man's heart pumping."
"C'mon, Mortimer, have your posse add it in real quick. Screw the rules; we have money," the other councillor barked a laugh.
"Both of you are bad influences," Chad nonchalantly spoke, his eyes glued to the video boards. It amused the first, and they continued to heckle Mortimer's lack of a response.
Sonia reveled in the midst of the mayhem. She maneuvered through the debris, bypassed Vulcan and the hoverbiker, and came out the other side with just a few cursory scorch marks. She barked a laugh and entered second place.
"Damn, she's good," Gamer growled at her in his rearview mirror.
"The best," Asterion reminded.
Samira brought Gamer's attention to his minimap. A bunch of symbols covered the land around the course they drove on. Gamer asked, "What's that all about?"
"A world of opportunity along the raceway, bruv. They are a whole bunch of sidequests, to earn cash, parts, and reputation. Take advantage, and be the most stylish speedster on the course!" Samira sounded like a commercial.
"Hell no!" Gamer declined the obvious distractions. And if you listen closely, the faint screams of every open-world completionist can be heard.
The course curved around the beach and dove into the forest. The foliage overhung the track and draped it in greens. The racers needed to avoid tree branches and coverage. The giant flytraps made a reappearance. They weren't really threats, but agitating obstacles. A few miles into the forest and a huge tree penetrated the entire roadway. The track actually merged with the trunk and curved up into a loop. It continued on past the trunk, but first they needed speed to overcome it.
Gamer hit the ignition for nitrous, installed by the lovely psycho clown. Ego hummed with intensity and rattled at the powerful acceleration. Flames burst out of its exhaust, and the trio inside were pinned to their seats as their speed doubled. Ego crawled up the trunk and over the loop without losing any footing. The trio inside celebrated its feat.
"Amateurs," Sonia pitied. She drove towards the guardrail of the course that leaned into the loop. She ramped up the loop and angled herself to the other side. Her motorcycle grinded the guardrail, but bounced. Sonia launched through the loop, skipping it entirely. She successfully stole first place.
"That's not fair!" Gamer gawked. They were just coming down the backside of the loop. Sonia was a few hundred meters ahead.
"She's a speedrunner, Gamer. She knows how to cut corners and maneuver hit boxes just as well as you know how to cheat," Asterion gave them both their flowers. "Let's just be happy she doesn't know every corner and door of Chanterelle, or she could pull off some teleportation tricks."
"Legal cheating? Not on my watch!" Gamer smashed another button on the dashboard. The front bumper of Ego raised up, revealing a row of five circular chambers. Inside the chambers were missiles. Two fired out and flew towards Sonia. The blue blur became alert in time to dodge them. The missiles curved away and exploded against trees.
Samira sent, "She's got a skibidi navigator with her. You'll never be able to hit her. Just like enemies can't lowkey sneak up on you while I'm here."
"Can you do something about them?"
"On it, fam!"
Sonia darted her eyes to the minimap; they were a third through the course. They currently rounded the north section, which dipped up into the foothills. As Talis worked on setting up markers of hazards and enemies, another text box appeared. Samira ( • ̀ω•́ )✧
"You again?!" Talis gasped.
"Would you kindly leave," Samira popped up a gif of somebody swinging a golf club. She tried to interpose it on Talis, but he moved out of the way. Samira ( ˶°ㅁ°)!!
"Not this time! I'm ready to rumble," Talis flicked his nine tails about.
"Deadass? Well how about some strangely sexual mobile game ads?!" Samira typed away to corrupt his system.
"No problem! I have an ad blocker!" Talis countered. The ads were automatically deleted.
Samira gasped in disgust, "I'm finna crash out! That means you don't support your favorite content creators! You prevent ad revenue!"
"Wrong! I support them on Patreon!"
Samira 💀 and her text box exploded. She reappeared in front of Gamer, "Nooo!!.·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·. he's a standup guy!"
By the time Samira returned, the other racers were catching up to Ego. While Vulcan dealt with the Vtubers, the two scrubs and Chaffe closed in.
The scrub on the giant bird drew up next to the passenger side window. With it smashed open, he aimed an open palm and conjured magic. When he fired at Minnie, the shellie put her arm up, "Perfect guard!"
It was too early, but Asterion did it at the right time. It dissipated the magic. Before the scrub could do anything, Gamer aimed his Desert Eagle without looking and shot the bird in the head. It echoed the chicken noise.exe before poofing into a fully cooked roast chicken plate. The scrub, and his new dinner, crashed along the raceway until digitizing to death.
"Brings a damn bird to a race; what was he thinking..." Gamer pitied the fool. That's when gunfire panged his doorframe and windshield. Handgun bullets had barely missed him. He turned to see Master Chaffe pull next to him in Chupathingie. Gamer winced at the handgun being pointed at him, but picked up on something more glaring. Chaffe no longer wore the bottoms to his power suit, including his boots *sniff* ('⧝｀) *sniff* His boxers were plastered with the mugs of famous alien characters.
"Where're your pants?!" Gamer asked, dumbfounded. Asterion and Minnie peeked over to see the goods.
"It's more comfortable this way," Chaffe answered shamelessly.
"Nice cock," Asterion complemented the bulge.
"Thanks," Chaffe appreciated.
A bunch of lackatoes swarmed Chupathingie. Chaffe no longer had a clear shot on Gamer. The cameramen fought to lower their cameras into Chupathingie for a clearer shot of Chaffe's bare feet. The scene resembled a bunch of bees loving the ever shit out of a pollinating flower. Chaffe swatted at them, "Ugh, I'm being flooded!"
Energy beams rained against the backside of Chupathingie. It was the scrub on the purple hoverbike again. For whatever reason, the blasts caused the engine of Chupathingie to catch fire. The lackatoes fluttered away in fear. Chaffe had to abandon the vehicle, as it stalled and began falling behind. He stood in his seat and leapt over to the hoverbike, just as Chupathingie exploded. He latched onto the side, and stood threateningly over the scrub. However, the scrub gushed.
"Oh my God, Master Chaffe! I'm a big fan! Please, sign my face!" the scrub fanboyed. His zealotry paid off, because Chaffe bequiffed a bootless foot to his head and took the hoverbike for himself. The scrub digitized the moment his skull met the raceway.