finals

"Thanks.." Keith nodded to the man, grabbing his drink before taking a sip..

The taste was unique, seemingly a concoction of strong alcohol diluted by all sorts of savoury flavours.

"How did you come up with it?" Keith looked at the drink curiously…

"I was once on a trip in the Caribbean, while there I came across all kinds of drinks, all mixed with fruits that grew there, but all lacking something… so I tried to make a drink better, mixing and adjusting it over time until I came to this current recipe." Keith listened attentively while sipping his drink.

"Sounds like a true adventure." His glass was already reduced to less then half of what it had originally been, Keith thought about ordering another one, but refrained as he would be racing soon.

"yeah.. something like that." With a smile the man turned to a new customer, leaving Keith to finish his drink..

Minutes continued to tick by, until Keith finally got the text he was hoping for, leaving the restaurant Keith came into view of Alex, who casually sat besides his parked car.

"Yo Boss." Alex threw his car keys to him, before standing up on her own two feet.

"Everything finished?" Keith looked at the car for a moment.

"Yes.. everything you asked for… as a bonus ill let you drive to the beginning of the race." Keith couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he entered the driver side of the car.

"So who will you be supporting?" Keith already knew that it likely wouldn't be him, but he was still curious, not wanting the air to grow still as he drove.

"Of course ill be supporting Kai, but ill still cheer for you Boss."

"What is it with you and Kai anyway?" Keith didn't know much about their personal lives, he only researched their reason as to how they got into crime, not who they met along the way.

"We are childhood friends, we grew up together, he was always into racing, from toy cars now to real once, when he began I fixed his car up for him, painted the scratches away and all."

"Mh… I see."

"After a while of racing he lost a bet, gaining the ire of some big shots or something.. and thus he just left me for a while, without a word..."

"You resented that?"

"No.. I understood his reasoning, I was simply disappointed that he didn't ask for my help in any of it." Alex didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore, so Keith dropped the subject.

Arriving at the destination Keith found all kinds off cars already there, most of them were flashy with bright colours and all kinds of modifications.

Finding his spot Keith brought his car to a stop, getting out in order to meet the organisers of the event..

Looking around Keith didn't know where to go, there were no signs posted or posters plastered around.

"You see the purple minivan over there, Mimi is the one responsible for the camara's, she'll know what to do with you." Alex pointed to the side, where a young woman sat comfortably inside the back of her minivan custom.

Approaching her, Keith didn't even have the possibility to talk before being addressed by her.

"So you are the one Jeff talked about ey?" Mimi looked him up and down, discarding him as another rich kid.

"Yes, that's me…" Keith confirmed.

"If there is anything you still want to ask, ask my girl Sessanta over there, if not, then just wait by your car." Keith looked over seeing a young African American woman checking up on some cars further back.

"Ill be fine.." Sessanta seemed busy, along with him not needing to check up on anything more… he just had to confirm that he was there, the questions he had didn't matter much anyway..

"if you say so." Keith kinda expected such an uncaring attitude, he hadn't build up much of a reputation, only racing a couple of times, only to be brought in to a grand event without even needing to qualify, not to mention him appearing to have just be done with his white-collar job

Getting back to his car, Keith waited for the rest of the drivers to get ready, hoping he wouldn't have to wait for too long..

The first of his competition to arrive was Hao, only sparing Keith a glance before making his way to Mimi.

The others slowly got there as well, each busying themselves with other things, mostly woman.. leaving only Kai to arrive last..

"Why don't we start this race already? Why bother waiting for someone who isn't even bothering to show up on time.." The one he guessed was Magnus spoke out loudly, gaining the attention from the others in the crowd..

"What does it matter to you… not planning on winning are you?" Hao spoke up, trying to act confident..

"You little.." Magnus

"Hey.. hey, just calm down will ya?.." Their shouting continued as Keith noticed Alex coming his way..

"What do you think?" Keith had been waiting for a longer time, but he didn't bother complaining, but magnus seemed born to do it..

"Mhh.. about that?.. that's normal." She only glanced at the fuming Magnus, not bothering to acknowledge him.

"No about Kai being late." Alex turned her head away

"Not much to say about it… likely that he just forgot the time.." Her tone was exposing her annoyance.

"Something bothering you?" Keith didn't know much about the relation between the two, only knowing them as childhood friends..

"No.." Alex stood up..

"Ill see you at the end of the race.. if you will make it that is.." Keith gazed at her retreating back, surprised by her attitude..

A couple minutes after Alex left, Kai arrived, speeding his car down the road before ending it in a drift, eventually stopping before hitting any of the spectators..

A whistle came from Mimi, signalling everyone to get to their cars…

Getting in Keith watched as a somewhat cooled of Magnus get in front of him…

The starting positions were decided before the race, with Hao and Kai in the front, and Keith behind Magnus, having likely the worst starting position..

Keith looked over his shoulder at the car beside his own.

The six cars were all different shapes and sizes, with colours differing, reflecting the personalities of each driver…

The engines in front of him were letting their engine roar as if trying to intimidate the other contestants.

Keith himself next to one of the trust fund boys, with himself being right behind the other muscle car in the race.

A signal was giving, causing all the people around to create some distance between them and the cars..

The only person remaining was a young woman holding a handkerchief up high…

"Ready?!" She looked at the cars in the front, before glancing to the other cars, getting a response from most of not all…

"Set!" She raised her hand up high… letting the handkerchief flap in the wind.

"Gooo." The signal caused the six of them to let their tires screech, as all gave gas to get up to speed as fast as possible.

Keith had a better start then Magnus in front of him, meaning that he had to either pass or limit himself not to crash head first into his opponents rear. Trying to go around, Keith was immediately blocked by Magnus.

His starting position left him in the rear of the pack, giving him the opportunity to asses his opponents, the two rich kids to his left didn't have the best start, but their cars performance caused them to catch up to first and second place, likely soon surpassing them with sheer car speed.

Keith and magnus fell a little behind, needing a longer time to get up to full speed…

Exiting the beach area, Keith could see the rich kids taking lose corners, losing them the time they had received with their cars performance.

The race continued like that for a while, with Keith catching up to the others with each turn, but unable to pass Magnus... who guarded each corner, preventing himself from getting into last place..

The race continued for a straight line, driving down the main street, passing many cars that were in the way…

With themselves at top speed, Keith and Magnus got up to Hao and Kai, whose cars had a lower top speed..

They eventually passed Hao, causing Keith to finally get out of last place… as they neared the next turn, Keith noticed a opening while Magnus was trying to pass Kai, giving him the opportunity to get into third in one fell swoop…

Tacking the chance Keith got out in front right before taking the turn, defending his own position just as hard as magnus had once had.

With good driving Keith eventually got into view of the people in first and second place, the rich kids not getting to take advantage of their speed in the short mountain roads….

Within the first turn after catching up to them Keith got into second place, using their wide turns to his advantage…

His actions caused the flow of them to get interrupted, causing the one in first place to try and keep Keith out, only to drive to close to the wall and spin himself out, leaving Keith to enter first place without any problem..

Looking in his rear-view mirror, Keith saw Magnus coming into third place, right after followed by Kai, who seemed to want to pass him…

Keith smiled at the attempt, before refocussing on the road in front of him… letting his driving create a bigger gap between him and the other racers..

Before long the gap had grown so much that Keith sometimes lost sight of them, only seeing them occasionally on a longer road… Making him guess that they were more than a couple seconds behind him, basically guaranteeing his placement in the top of this group..

Making the final turn, Keith saw the Vinewood sign, overlooking the city with cars parked nearby and people standing on them to overlook the race, cheering as Keith passed the last checkpoint, marking himself as the first place finisher.

After him Magnus finished, gaining a respectable second place… but third place surprised him… Hao had catches up, beating Kai and the other two…

But Even after Hao Kai didn't finish, eventually barely arriving in fifth place… his car seemingly a wreak in comparison to how it was at the beginning of the race…

Approaching Kai, Keith saw him getting out of his car, slamming the door in frustration before screaming for magnus..

"You fucker.." Kai charged towards Magnus, getting up in his face..

"What do you want?" Magnus seemed more smug than anything, not scarred of the smaller Kai.

"You know what I want.." The situation seemed to escalate before they were interrupted by a shout coming from the spectators..

"Kai.." A young blond shouted out to Kai, causing him to back off from the situation.

"Yeah run back to your little lady." Magnus laughed, heading back to his group..

Keith didn't know what had happened, suspecting that Magnus had caused Kai to spin out, either ramming him or using other methods to do so…

While it was unsportsmanlike and a little dirty, it didn't violate any of the rules, meaning that Magnus didn't have to take any blame, only reinforcing his reputation as a dirty racer..

Keith would race against him in the next race as well, needing to deal with him then..

"So you have won." Alex appeared behind him, surprising him a little..

"Yes… like I said I would…" Keith smiled only to notice Alex's sombre look

"You did.." Keith noticed her glancing at Kai..

"Won't you go to him?" Keith suspected that there was something wrong..

"No.." she shook her head adamantly, letting her short hair swing as she did so..

"Why not?" If their relation got worse then it might create problems in the future..

"He already has someone by his side… he doesn't need me to complicate things for him." Keith nodded, finally understanding what bothered her so much..