Chapter 4: C01ns and Karts Part 2: The incident

As Bonne woke up she was greeted by the smell of freshly brewed coffee which I brewed for myself, but for her I brewed up a nice cup of tea; Needless to say she was still shook by the events of this afternoon even as she took sip after sip of the tea. After Her0 left the room to go down to the Kart room, I broke the silence by talking to Bonne "Hey Bonne, Who was that guy?" I asked. "Don't worry about him, I... I'm not associated with him... not anymore at least" Bonne said in a dejected and sad tone; she sounded the complete opposite of how she sounded earlier this afternoon. I could feel the fear that is still inside her; almost as if she wants our help to fight that guy, I told her that Me and Her0 would go there, Guns Blazing, if she didn't tell me who he was in relation to her to which she finally showed reaction to "NO... *ahem* No don't do that, I'll talk just... please stay."

•

She refused to tell me their relationship but did tell me what was up with him hunting her down. It turns out Adam was the man who taught her how to be a Kart mechanic but just as he was proud of how he'd raised her to be a professional, he was also cruel. Telling her to work overtime all year long, sure this was a game but the physical stress is just the same as in real life, regardless of the amount of stress she was in he'd tell her to work and work but completely refusing to help her and whenever she'd complain about it he'll yell at her, making her feel guilty by telling her how he'd raised her to be the best of the best and that was how she'd treat him. And the least cruel thing he had done was grab her head and smash it into whatever Kart she had been creating or modifying and yell loudly in her ear how much of a horrible person she was if she even as much as requested full hearty meal and pay for the Kart she had worked so hard on. Despite that, in those times she'd rather take the physical abuse rather than the mental one.

One day Adam had requested that she modify Vegant Asva's Kart to add Flame Thrusters that are against the rules as they can be used to harm players/racers; Even Vegant won't stand for such an injustice and when a player had tried to do so in one race, he personally got out of his Kart and dismantled it himself with his bare hands. Adam was especially pushy this time because if they win the next race, Vegant will continue being their team's racer; so he said that it was fine as long as it wasn't visible anywhere on the Kart. Bonne had had enough of it and told Adam that she won't do it... No matter what she will not tarnish Vegant Asva's name. Adam didn't take those words lightly however. He grabbed his Golden wrench and used the skill EMBLAZEN to make it as hot as Lava but it wouldn't hurt him regardless of how bad it burns. He raised the now burning Wrench way above his head "So... Ya' think ye can defy me eh". SIZZZLLLEEE  The wrench went as Bonne looked up at the man, pleading that he spare her, she grabbed his pants and cried and screamed but Adam only got more annoyed with every word that came out of her mouth.

SLAM!!! FSHHHHH Adam had driven his burning wrench onto Bonne's back and raised it once more, unrelenting and wanting to punish her more, he kept on whacking her back some more and with each hit the wrench burned her skin and even peeled it as Bonne's flaking skin stuck onto the wrench leading to her bleeding all over her body and all while her co workers had began entering the workspace. All of the other employees had looked in horror as Bonne was on the ground Bleeding and slowly losing skin; but they were unable to do anything as Adam had threatened to do the same to them if they dared to help her.

As the sun rose, Adam stopped. Calling over one employee "Hey you" he said "Take this girl and throw her to the back Alley" staring at their eye he continued "And if ye dare to give her a hand, heh, you know." The poor worker was forced to throw Bonne, who was barely conscious, over their shoulder and throw her inside the Trash bin behind their building. Left alone to cry inside the trash can, until she notices that she was still holding something; A pocketwatch that belonged to Adam which was actually a compass. In it was a letter directing to a location called "The Coin Mine", it was said he's the only one who knew about a secret stash of coins that he is keeping secret because people kept coming to him for the location of it. This was how he had been able to afford Kart pieces. Bonne had grabbed it with her burned hand and slowly but surely walked out of that back alley despite her body burning all over.

•

After that story she removed her large brown coat revealing several scars, burns and bruises all over her arms, neck, and her legs, all of them seemed to have been healing but it seems that there were a few fresh cuts, I don't want to imagine how much more trauma she had to have been in to be so broken like that but still act as goofy and fun as the girl that we met earlier today. She told me that it was possible that we'd face him at the Grand Prix as she reveals to me a fact I didn't want to hear. Adam Andyrson is the Mechanic and co-driver of Vegant Asva, I was hoping to beat him in the race and prove that Bonne was better than what he says she is, but with Vegant on his team, I felt less confident. He had never lost a single race but she reminds me that we didn't have to win the race necessarily but just place 3rd or 4th so that she can finally leave the game with a semi-stable life away from Adam.

I went to the basement staircase because she requested to be left alone for a while. I sat down and went into deep thought; It didn't feel right to me that she had to suffer like that and just run away, she has to stand up to that man because if she doesn't, her life won't go anywhere, no matter where she goes that trauma will remain and could possibly lead to her self destruction. I want to help her at the very least, Adam deserves to be put down from his pedestal of superiority but even now I can see his massive advantage towards us. "Hey Marla, what do you think?" Her0 said from the stairs under me and continued "You asked her who he was right? What do you want to do now?"

"... I want to punch him... I want to beat him... I... I want to..." My tears began to drop "I want to k1ll him... I want that bas7ard to get hurt! I want him to know the pain he put her through!! I-!!!"

"But is that what she wants?" With that Her0 cut me off "She wants to leave it behind and forget about it, so why would you force her to face it?"

"Because I know... I know how she feels. She must be thinking the same things as me... Right?"

I could then hear Her0 slowly climb up the stairs and respond; "I can't say because I haven't gone through something like that. But I can say with my honest opinion that I won't assume that she wants his head or that she wants him to live..." Her0 now stood in front of me, illuminated by the faint glow of the moonlight behind me. They look at me head on, wiping the tear marks from my face and, quietly, they whisper to my face "But regardless of what she or you want, I will proclaim here... We will win the race." I chuckle softly at Her0's words, their words don't match what they're thinking at all but I'm a bit glad that this person is by my side; their goofiness is enough for me to be lifted from the sickly sadness I felt from listening to Bonne. Then and there I felt the courage that Her0 must've felt, Hehe looks like I'm turning into as much a goofball as they are.

•

Day 2: After the incident

Tensions were still high so there aren't many things happened after the incident, but we've managed to finalize the decision on who the Main and Co-Drivers were, Her0 and I Opted for me to be the main Driver because my speed stat was a tad better than Her0's but Bonne Opted for the opposite with her reasoning being that the Co-Driver is usually a saving grace that is usually reserved for when the Main Driver is running out of stamina. She explained to us that while our strategy is the more efficient one to get a high placement quickly but Stamina is also an important factor since the Kart is connected to the Driver's senses and drains them of stamina for fuel as it goes on. Her0 has the better stamina from both of us and thus they were the main while I was the Co-driver. We also did some basic training with the kart but since Her0 wasn't used to how the Kart worked, it quickly drained them of their stamina; thankfully I had a spare stamina potion in these cases. Bonne helped tend to our needs as we practiced and practiced to control the Kart and Stamina consumption.

•

Day 3: Training 

Well I'm sorry, this ain't anime so we can't have an entire d@mn training arc. But Her0 and I did train a bit by trying to keep our stamina from being drained without slowing down. It was hard for both of us at first but once you get the gist of it, it'll feel natural not long after. Bonne was actually impressed at how quickly we got the hang of the sport so she wanted to give us a present in the form of lootboxes that she collected long before she met us. Her0's contained a cute accessory which looks like a cartoon skull with a pink clip on its side, they were so happy to recieve such a thing. Meanwhile, I opened mine and to my surprise it was a rare skill called "Luck++" which gives me a permanent boost on my Luck from this point forward, I had wanted a better skill like "Speed++" but Luck is a part of skill too I guess? Bonne patted me on the back and told me "Hey look on the bright side Marla, at least next time you'd have better luck!" *WINK*

... Well she's not in a state of that overwhelming sadness anymore.

•

Day 4: Coins and Karts Grand Prix

Finally the day has arrived, today was the day we were going to prove to Adam that we and Bonne were not the people he should have messed with. We arrived on the racing grounds and well if you compare the ExcitedFalcon against the other Karts here... Well it's incomparable because they were more flashy and had more mass than our Kart to the point that everyone made fun of Bonne's work and she who was watching from the crowd only focused her eyes on us and gave us a slight nod and we nod back in agreement that these guys wouldn't make us feel dejected. But while most made fun of us, these noises slowly fizzled out as soon as HE took one step on the race track. Wearing an open dark navy blue jumpsuit with the Logo of a broken heart embedded on it, everyone shut up as the announcer introduced HIM with bravado.

"LADIEES AND GENTLEMEENN! PLEASE WELCOME THE THREE TIME COINS AND KARTS GRAND PRIX CHAMPION! VEGAAAAANT ASVA!!!!"

Of course it was Vegant, a Greaser haircut, Chiseled chin, and a well toned body that towered both of us. He slowly approached us with the sound of loud footsteps "Adam must've snitched" was Her0's first thoughts and hhow could they not?! We're toast if this guy is mad at us because for sure he won't go easy on us like Adam and-!

"Are you two newcomers to the Grand Prix?" Vegant asked the both of us in a tone that was more calm than we had thought with his hand on my shoulder. Surprisingly his grip didn't feel as heavy as it looked, in fact I feel a kind of... Home-like warmth from him, to contrast our perception of him he was so nice in person. We wanted to talk to him more but unfortunately, HE was also here.

"Vegant, my boy! Don't be so nice to the competition, you don't know if you're staring at the face of a backstabber"

"Sorry Adam, Its just that I'm glad that people of all ages are coming and participating to enjoy my game"

"Heh Enjoy We'll see about that won't we?" Adam said glaring at both of us. However, we didn't feel intimidated as he'd hoped. I mean come on the guy's a balding fat guy trying to intimidate two minors, that's more creepy for the outsiders watching. The announcer from atop his pedestal began to signal all participant racers to get into the positions given to us at random.

"ALLLLL RIGHTT RACERSSS!!! START! YOUR!! ENGINES!!!"

VROOOOMMMMMM~~~ layers of the sound of engines revving up as the racer's staminas were slowly being drained. We, and also Vegant didn't tho because we knew better that Stamina is important in this race and with every rev of the engine a player's stamina is reduced. Both me and Her0 knew that he was serious about winning just as much as we are. Unfortunately, our reason stands better than his.

The Audience Cheers along with the announcer.

3!

•

2!!

•

1!!!

•

*GO*!!!!!!