The rather fat guy, formerly muscle when he was in highschool twenty years ago, waved them thru before Melissa could speak.

Derek remembered the good old days. He was the man in highschool. Just after highschool he had gotten busted by the cops for some weed and it ruined his life. He, of course, blamed it entirely on the police. After all he was "the man".

To make ends meet now he worked as a bouncer at the local bars and here at the gate. It was pay and helped him remember the good old days. That and a good hoot of weed helped a ton. Brad didn't care a wink that he smoked, the other places he worked at frowned upon it if he smoked at work. He didn't know why it didn't smell that much. Heck a regular cigarette smelled more!

He was just packing his pipe with a new dab when he heard it.

An engine that he had not heard for nearly twenty years but it was unmistakable! It couldn't be! Derek looked down at his weed. Maybe this stuff wasn't as good as he thought. When he looked up he saw it.

That white rusty looking Toyota. The 86 had virtually disappeared along with it's driver to legend almost twenty years ago. Yet here it was driving up to his booth. It couldn't be that car should have been nothing but a pile of dust by now. The 1986 Toyota Corolla had seen better days.

Unknown to most this particular Corolla was never really that rusted, it just looked that way. It's suspension and drive train had been upgraded to match the "japan only " model that made it a very sought after car in Japan for drifting. Technically the "modifications" were both stock and not stock. The fact the little dual ohc four cylinder was bored over, balanced to within insane tolerances with a custom fitted head from a different engine entirely would mean nothing to anyone but those in the know.

In simple terms it accelerated far faster than most cars and being a "balanced" car drove better especially around curves.

The owner had maintained it rather meticiously over the years while it was stored. Oil changed regularly, tires, and it got regular washings. some of the artfully spots on the trunk made to look like rust now actually were rust. However overall the car was still very sound. It's special little garage that looked like a half tipped over shed surrounded by overgrown shrubbery and trees went unnoticed for years being"in the bush". The inside of the garage would show people it wasn't abandoned by a long shot being built of steel and concrete. An interesting passive drain system kept the garage temperature at a dry twenty degrees Celsius. A few kids had, over the years, tried to break in but couldn't. So the 86 sat idle awaiting its turn to fly once again.

Then again so did it's driver.

Fox as she was known, mostly because the license plate said FOX 392, but also because on her face around her right eye was makeup in red that was in the shape of a foxes head. She had gotten the idea from a cartoon that had debuted in the 90s. A bit of hair coloring, some makeup and a judicious amount of padding, no longer needed, had given her a shape totally different from her normal one. Thus the perfect alter ego/ persona was born. One where she was free to fly around at speeds in the car.

Fox had made her debut by racing a few older muscle cars and beating them. Then she had started the drifting fad on the old road. Honestly when she stopped racing she had expected the fad to die out. It still surprised her that people still raced that way on the same old road.

What really had peaked her interest was when she received an anonymous text telling her that someone had not only broken her old record finally but did so in a red FD.

She had yet to see the FD but this girl she was following was bugging at her somehow. She had never seen the girl before but something about her just ....

Thus it had led her here to this old building were some of the less savory types she knew raced. When she rolled down her window, hand crank, she was surprised.

"Derek? Derek Chalmers is that you?"

Derek looked down at his pipe, the same pipe he had since highschool. She couldn't believe he still smoked that stuff.

"Yeah...Fox is it really you?"

"Yes Derek it's really..."

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he exploded with tears in his eyes.

"Busy with life... uhm can you let me in?"

" Oh sure sure. Whatever you want Fox." and with that Derek let in the one woman he had always loved. However he found it strange just how much much she looked like that girl driving that hemi car.

"Couldn't be..." Derek shook his head then remembered his pipe and all thoughts about the two women escaped his mind as a haze formed in his brain and he remembered the good old days with a grin.

Melissa pulled up beside the 240 less than pleased with the car. The little stick, as she dubbed the engine, did okay but it wasn't right. She checked the menu again and found a listing for PT1. She remebered back to when they were working on the engine for the FD and she vaguely remembered Pete telling her that he had just finished rebuilding a piece of crap V6 for someone. Was it possible? But more to the point. Could he leave an engine alone stock?

She pressed the screen for PT1 and the Little stick sounded like a really old 1950's six at idle. But she could feel something. This wasn't the little stick anymore but more like the little monster. It didn't sound like it but it felt...right. Melissa just smiled.

Outside of the charger Brad and a number of his regulars noticed the cough and different sound of the charger. They all laughed but one, the woman who was still inside the Toyota. A grim look to her face and unheard by everyone, since they were laughing, was her comment of "That is one of Petes engines."

Inside the little monster with its stock radio and no cds Melissa started to look for some drivin music. Changing a few stations she set it to a local one. Q92 was a pop/rock station that played mostly eighties music. To those that listened to it you had to know that the owner/s were big fans of the old band that had debuted in 1970 as a "rhythm and blues band". As she turned to it she smiled just a little more as they introduced one of her favorite old songs but as an extended version.

Melissa pressed in the clutch and nodded outside to the flagger to give her readiness as the first very distinctive rumblings of an electric guitar started to play with the band saying "ah ah ah ahhya ya yah...ah ah ah ahhya ya yah..."

Brandy and Melony looked up from their commutative sobbing to the blaring of the radio with the first notes of AC/DC's Thunderstruck on the radio to see someone they really didn't want to see driving their car. The little girl in pigtails revved up the engine that shouldn't have been in the car but was. They clutched each other tighter and cried some more.

Brad looked over as the flag was raised and did a double take. The girl driving that car was different somehow. She was bobbing her head to what could only be Thunderstruck playing over the radio. Did she not take driving seriously? Was this some kind of game? Pigtails....why should she have pigtails? He shook his head and looked out just as the flag dropped.

To those laughing outside the car at first they laughed but that joke of an engine changed again somehow. Gone was the old beater sound but in its place was the sound very similar to that of the older Porsche's. The laughs died down as the flag raised and as a one they all heard the car blaring Thunderstruck. Which somehow blended really well with the sound of the charger.

A few faces went white as they realized that they may have just bet badly on the wrong car.

As the flag dropped Brad punched it to get ahead. After all you couldn't lose if you were ahead in a drift race.

As the flag dropped Melissa let him go ahead, Brad knew the road better than she. However she could already tell that this would be boring. And he was slow. So she held in the reins of little monster and followed as close as she could. This race wasn't just all uphill.

Fox not only heard but felt the change in that charger. It had to have a Hemi in it. No way that was a V6 sxt car! This might be interesting after all. As they both took off she followed in the 86. After all it needed a good run. Besides aside from a few late night sneaks out it had been a long time since she had let the 86 run.

To all but one person watching the two cars take off in the race they believed that the old Toyota was a fool to try and butt in on a race. However John knew that car. It had to be Fox. But what was she doing here?

Brad felt that adrenaline rush that can only come from when your pushing the edge. He was excited and thrilled! Something about that girl had made him push the 240 to the edge right off the top. He had to have left her behind as he had already gone up two of the eight levels. Heck he was probably pushing his best time already. So when he looked up into the rear view mirror and not only saw the charger right behind him but another white car he started to panic just a little. He was ahead but something didn't feel right.

Melissa kept the reins on the little monster and followed as best she could. The car was doing okay so far but it wasn't really working quite right yet. The corners felt .. off. But...it was getting better!

Fox followed behind the two cars watching them as only another racer can from the best view. Right behind!. Still the 240 was doing okay. She would have passed him already but the charger was the one racing not her. Yet she felt like the charger was holding back. She couldn't have told you why but she felt it wasn't time.

As they came around the bend on the seventh floor, which was a repeat of every floor before it Melissa had had enough.

"Fuck this!" she said.

Brandy and Melony in the back seat screamed as one" Let us out!!!" Melissa ignored them and put the gear down a shift and floored it. The little monster sensed it's time and moved.

Brad was still in the lead and this was the seventh floor even if you wanted too you couldn't pass here not with that partial floor missing. He relaxed and looked over. He saw red creeping up. He yelled out loud " You can't pass here! There is now room!"

Of course he was unheard.

Fox saw the charger come to life and move. She smiled. "Finally!"

Melissa moved the charger to the outside and saw the floor, shrugged and turned the wheel just a little more sending the back of the car sliding sideways. Tires burned and slowly, ever so slowly, almost unnoticed except by Fox the front tire on the drivers side lifted just a little off the ground. The charger was effectively just riding on three wheels so that when the passenger wheel just cleared the edge of teh missing floor and the rears behind far enough away also cleared. It looked , for all intents and purposes, as if the car just flew right over the missing chunk of floor.

Fox smiled even more. She was good! "Gods how I miss this!"

Brad saw the charger fly over the missing floor. It should have crashed! There is no way that could happen! "I knew those bitches were fucking lying! That is a hemi car and it's tuned to perfection!" However that meant nothing. The red car was now faster moving and would be ahead of him.

Melissa pulled ahead and let the little monster play. It was almost time she could feel that it was getting easier to drift. Maybe the tires just needed to warm up? Oh I love this part of the song!

Normally at the top the small group there would let the others know that Brad was in the lead and the other car was either dead in the water or doing ok. Thus to see not only that the red charger was in the lead but flying faster and crazier than the 240 left them wondering what was going on. Brad never lost. This was his track and the charger hadn't run this before. However the rumors of a red headed wonder and a FD began to surface. Maybe, just maybe, Brad was going to lose?

Brad pushed the 240. He started to feel that it was losing grip. Surely the charger was the same yet why was it going faster? And why was there a white car on his other side not two feet away? He started to get angry that bitch played him for a fool! She was going to pay.

Unknown to Brad but in the moment he lost his temper he lost the race. Fortunately Fox realized this and moved to get around him before he trashed not only his car but hers as well. Besides she wanted to see what the charger would do one the down trip!

Brad saw that as he straightened out on the roof the white Toyota pass him by. He saw red and did the biggest mistake ever. He floored the car going into a corner. He realized his mistake when he couldn't turn. The front of the 240 caught the cement and dragged along the edge turning the car end for end slamming between two walls in a shower of sparks. The engine that had just been pushed to its max and let run free via a pushed in clutch threw a rod! The 240 billowed smoke from oil on hot exhaust as the engine slowly turned it's last to a freezing halt as the oil had dumped out quick leaving nothing on the overworked crankshaft.

While the car had slammed side to side Brad was first shocked to realize he lost but more importantly his life to this point flashed before his eyes. He realize two things. He was a big jerk. Yes Jessica was his baby but he had ruined it with Brandy. He saw her little face and his second realization was that despite everything, he loved that little girl. It was time he did something right. Thus as the car grinded to a halt billowing smoke a sad Brad sat in the car.

Fox rounded the bend to the seventh leaving the wreck she had foresaw behind to see no red charger.

"Dam that girl is fast!" She sped up!