Timeline Racers: Chapter 6: Amanda's Curse, part 2

[Autofreak4986]

Timeline Racers​

​

1. Was It Just a Dream?​

"1996...Corvette GRAND SPORT...I feel like I've seen it before." I said as I'm in my bed dreaming after a wild party at my house in Monterey. Unfortunately, I was supposed to be doing my homework online at Stanford University when I got this dream.

"Wait...where are you going?" I asked as the Corvette I've probably seen before race towards downtown Los Angeles. The driver was probably chasing after a Nismo GT-R LM Road Going Version. Why do I have the feeling I've had this dream before?!

7:00 AM *BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!* *SMACK!*
Suddenly, I wake up. I take a shower and get dressed and go out for breakfast, when all of a sudden...

Brittany "Britt" Wilder
(212) 555-6387
Answer/Ignore

"What do you want now?" I ask as my "Moon Over the Castle" ringtone plays. I answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, Alex. Some party last night, huh?"
"What do you want, Brittany? I have to turn in my research today, you know." Yes, one of my friends is a race car driver. She's usually decimating everyone with the 2010 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's #48 Chevrolet Impala whether it be other NASCAR stock cars and other competitors. She's originally from Florida, but she can't seem to win at Daytona--despite the fact she had enough points to win the championship and $228,000 to boot.
"Listen. My team owner is doing a test at Daytona and Indianapolis and I nominated you since you might be interested and you have a passion for cars and all. Is that OK with you?"
"Wait...you want me to drive Jeff Gordon's racecar?"
"It's only for a few tests. You don't get to take it with you."
"Well, I'll see you there..." I said before I hung up my iPhone and headed straight to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca before...
"I'm not sure I got the right person." I tried not to pay attention to him until I saw the '96 Corvette, colored Admiral Blue with a stripe. My eyes lit up once I saw it, but then I had a funny feeling in my stomach, making me even more nervous.
"That's...the car from my dream last night!"
"Yep. I've had it since 1998. I won a two-lap race against an NSX, an Impreza, another '96 C4, and a '67 C2. Your name's Alex, right? You must be the one Brittany talked about. I'm your crew chief, but you're the boss. There's no telling how far you'll go if you drive well."
Shortly thereafter I started to get worried, as I had thoughts of a blue car and a red car. The crew chief snapped his fingers to get me to snap out of a trance I was supposedly in.
"Hey, listen up. The Sunday Cup is beginning in Colorado next week. We gotta get prepared."
He introduced me to my pit crew, all wearing BMW racing suits. "What's up with them?" He showed me the car, a BMW 1-series "Tii" concept from 2007.

"For your introduction, the crew suggested you race with this. It's not exactly fast, but we'll use the car to give you a taste of what it's like to be in the hunt for the World and Dream Car Championships. Those are where the elite and the best, fearsome competitors compete for the gold trophy."
From there it was off to Grand Valley in the mountain states in the U.S., but I was a little nervous, thinking about the blue car and the red one, likely an HKS CT230R, but I won't know for sure yet. My adventure has just begun.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! You may not know this, but the driver in the blue car you kept thinking about resembles James Lafferty in the face, but with bigger eyes and they're brown. I forgot his name, though! Watch your back when you see him. He's a REALLY tough competitor this year."
My heart started pounding, making me even more nervous. I think I may have been doomed from the start. What if I accidentally run into him on the track? What if I end up losing painfully? And how am I going to get through this road block? This is too much for my 20-year-old heart to handle.
It wouldn't be much of a problem, because I stormed the first two courses and didn't even know it, including Grand Valley East. No sign of the blue car. Chief had told me that Tsukuba was one of the hardest courses on the tour...he then went on to say that some had been "eaten alive" by some of the tight corners. Many have lost like that...except for me.

"There you go...you got it, Alex! Just keep doing that, and you'll be attracting new challengers in no time!"

As I finished the Tsukuba race, I soon thought about some enemies, even the one in the red 14 car the crew chief failed to tell me about, causing me to suspect he's hiding something. It was a good thing not to run into the blue racer, either, seeing that it was my first race. I have a long way to go before I'm the champion of the racing world.
"Hey, um, Alex...you might want to wake up now. WAKE UP! You'll destroy the car."

 

[uMadson?]

From Laguna Seca to Tsukuba? You're jumping stuff way ahead there.

You're off to a good start, just don't jump from one racetrack to another.

 

[Zach]

Erm what happened? Laguna Seca to Tsukuba to High Speed Ring?! What's with the last pic?

 

[DK]

I don't understand either, but the start of this story has me hooked.

 

[Autofreak4986]

I had intended to make Alex Stanton 18 years old, but I had a thought a few days developing this, so I bumped his age up to 21. Part of this story is GT Mode A-spec and B-spec, and A-spec Arcade Mode.

Erm what happened? Laguna Seca to Tsukuba to High Speed Ring?! What's with the last pic?

Alex wasn't in that race; the pic of the enemies driving the NASCAR stock cars was a daydream Alex had upon finishing the last race in the Sunday Cup, Tsukuba Circuit.

 

[Autofreak4986]

2. Checkers or BUST!​

"Whew! You're back. Nice job!"
Not realizing I was dozing off, I saved the car in time. I drove to Kyoto, and then this happened.

I don't know why they were parked there. At first, I thought they'd challenge me to a race or something, but it turns out all four (all Japanese) went out for a jog.
The flight back to the United States was OK...until I got a call from Brittany. I knew what was coming next.

"Brittany...you brought me Alex Stanton? The up-and-coming driver?"
"Well, he's won a few races."
"Well, he's won a few races. You sure he's not like that queen bee Rebecca?" Rebecca LeSage. That name strikes fear into the hearts of other drivers. She hails from Los Angeles and races the 2010 Kyle Busch #18 M&M's Toyota Camry, and Brittany can't stand her. Whenever Brittany's racing, there's an 85.6% chance that the drivers racing car 18 have almost as always been young women, and most of them are usually near the front of the pack. I had bad things to say about Rebecca until thoughts of "driver in the blue car resembling James Lafferty in the face" my crew chief warned me about circled my head.
"You know what TNA Knockout Madison Rayne and Rebecca have in common? They're MAD with power. When it comes to Rebecca, STAY AWAY FROM HER. She'll act like Regina George from Mean Girls and plot to ruin the rest of your life."
"Brittany...would you PLEASE cut it out with the random movie references?! Now, I want you to show Alex around the track so he can get a feel for race cars in general...like this one."

After all that about Rebecca, I finally get to live the dream of getting to drive Jeff Gordon's racecar around the track, but I do realize it's going to be short-lived.
"That's unbelievable! I gotta talk to your crew chief...Brittany, excellent choice! Why didn't you tell me about this teenager sooner?" And then it happened again.

"Ummm...Alex...WAKE UP! The test is over." Thankfully, I saved the car from going into the wall.
"That was some impressive driving. But if you want to race in this series, you might wanna bring a NASCAR stock car with you." And then, it was off to my next challenge.

 

[DK]

You're really cranking out these new chapters. I hope you don't get "burnt out" by this.

 

[uMadson?]

I think I understand why it's called Timeline Racers.

(Spoiler is only for author to read)

Spoiler

Daydreams, daydreams, and daydreams. Seems to confuse me every now and then.

Still, looking forward to more chapters. 👍

 

[Autofreak4986]

I almost forgot to also tell readers ahead of time so nobody gets confused:
Red text: Alex Stanton's dialogue, age 21. He is the main character assigned to test and race cars from the '50s, the '60s, the '70s, the '80s, and the '90s as well as the 00s and 10s.
Burgundy text: Brittany "Britt" Wilder's dialogue, age 21. She test drives cars whenever needed and sometimes challenges Alex in NASCAR events.
Sienna text: Crew chief's dialogue (Alex)
Dark olive text: Crew chief's dialogue (Brittany)

Black text: People unimportant to the fanfic.
More characters/dialogue colors are coming soon!

 

[Autofreak4986]

3.Uncharted Waters, part 1​

That Jeff Gordon experience was...exhilarating. That's all I'm going to say. That was, until I stayed in my hotel room in Daytona Beach tending to my Stanford online courses, shut off my laptop and went right to bed. This time, the dream got worse.

"I thought it would be a breeze today. Wait...who's behind me?"

"You're not going ANYWHERE, you James Lafferty wanna-be!"

"I hate losing to you. You irritate me. You disgust me. Why don't you just get the heck out of my way and just accept your fate?"

"Um, you know that I am the fastest out of both of us, right?"

"That song's playing again. There's nothing worse than hearing Like a Man Possessed."

"Give up. Everybody knows your intentions, man. Why can't you just admit that you try too hard?" "Oh, darn it, not again! I'm in the grass!"

"This is the end of the line. Why even mess around? You know I'm going to win anyway."

"I KNEW this was going to happen. This is like a replay of 2001 on the last lap when Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick were dueling at Atlanta! I can't let history repeat itself with me! I'm not gonna do that."

"Darn that CT230R!!! I HATE losing to this hotshot!"

"And another checkered flag for me, please, thank you very much. You better watch out, Alex Stanton, 'cause I'm coming for you next!"

7:00 AM *BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!* *SMACK!*
"What was that all about?"
It turns out that the James Lafferty look-alike driver had some competition, and when the red car dominated the rest of that race, he had a poor choice of words. I was probably right that my crew chief had something to hide, or maybe he forgot something.
I returned to Daytona to talk to Brittany's crew chief, however. I told him about the CT230R in my dream last night later that morning.
"Oh, him? Your crew chief--my best friend--told me he resembles the frontman in a band way out in San Diego named Cavalist with a wild hairstyle. Hey, get back in Jeff Gordon's race car. I have another mission for you."
"I heard his name was Weston."

"See, isn't this fun, Alex?"
"Indeed!"

"I think he's getting the hang of this."
"Not so fast, pretty boy."

"What?! How did he do that?!"
"If I'm not mistaken, you beat Nicole within 0.001 of a second! You sure you haven't done this before?"
And then my cell phone rang again. It was Chief. That meant I had to go back on the plane to Los Angeles...again.
"Sorry, but I have to go. Something just came up."

To Be Continued...​

 

[Autofreak4986]

4.Uncharted Waters, part 2​

It was such a relief to get out of Florida while I still could when the Chief found out where I was. He showed me the next car to drive, an FF car, the Alfa Romeo 147 when we got back to L.A..
A few hours later, while driving in my 147, I stumble across a hot girl (I can't believe I said that!) driving a Japan-spec Integra, colored white.

"I'm the best tire-smoking chick ever."

"Not if I can help it!" That was a poorly-timed, poorly-executed statement by overachiever Gina Meyer, as I was able to catch her in two laps. I won as well.
I would be in for the shock of my life when I went to the California forest in the 147.

"Please! Don't be so mean to my Prelude! Hey! Where are you going?"
"I got a race to win!" She followed me throughout the race, but I wondered what her name was. It also appeared she tried to keep it close. I can't shake her off!

 

[Zach]

Omfg. You crank out chapters faster than me. Some people knew that I posted 1 chapter a day in Queen of Speed

 

[uMadson?]

The big bang of creativity.

Just don't rush it too much and the story will remain good. 👍

 

[DK]

^ uMadson has a point, nice chapter BTW.

 

[Autofreak4986]

5.Amanda's Curse, part 1​

That last race was a nightmare, but I managed to hold on. What did that girl driver in the Prelude want from me? After the race was over, as soon as I was going to talk to Chief, I run into this girl with brown eyes and brown hair, but something was odd about her. Instead of racing shoes, she wore red high top Chuck Taylors instead. All I could do was sigh at the fact I might have seen this all before. *cough, McConnell and Madsen, cough*
"Stop haunting me, Amanda Madsen!" Yes, you heard me right--her. Amanda was known for wearing those shoes out on the track as well.
"Please...I'm only 18 years old."
"I'm not going to ask about the Converse sneakers. I promise." I failed. I couldn't stop laughing at the fact of why she's wearing those instead of proper racing shoes.
"Let me guess..."
"If you're talking about Amanda Madsen, then, yes. I look up to her."
I pull out my iPhone and find out who this girl is, but it wasn't looking so good...it's like the tale of Zack and Amanda was going to repeat itself. She's born April 9, 1993, and she actually shares a birthday with Amanda.
"Who do ya got there, Alex?"
"My name is Courtney and I'm trying to follow in Amanda's footsteps! I'm only 18 years old and trying to be the youngest competitor ever to win the grand championship."
"Now I'm getting this warm feeling inside."
Of course, Chief just had to get distracted, because Courtney--like Amanda--was hot. Are they sisters?
"What about Courtney? I also go by Amanda or Sian."
"I'm not managing you...you're way too much. Alex, you coach her." Chief was stammering when he said that, distracted by Sian's good looks, obviously.
Shortly thereafter, we arrived in Asheville, North Carolina, where Sian got into a familiar car (maybe 'cause it's the one a certain someone drove...), and drove like she knew what she was doing.

Everything was going well until an S14 tried to drift like her.

"🤬 🤬 🤬! I overdid it!"

The driver of the S14, Heather van Dam, was not happy at all. Her futile efforts of trying to emulate what Sian was doing only spun her off the course. She finished in last place as well.

"Now that's what I call a good race!"
When we got back to Japan to Tsukuba, however...

...she dominated it.
When I went back to the Tsukuba garage after the race, I notice Sian writing in something like a diary. Maybe she's moody like other teenaged girls?
Dear Diary: What an *amazing* experience! So I met this hot guy named Alex Stanton, and it looked as if he was storming every race, and he's doing a stellar job of it. I still want to be the youngest driver ever to win the world championship, though, and I haven't given up on that at all. However, there's something inside of me that I want to address...
Unfortunately, that "thing inside of her" later caused her to take a joyride in one of Brittany's well-known racing vehicles. Just who does Sian think she is, and what kind of sick stunt is she trying to pull?

 

[uMadson?]

Something always bothers me - Tsukuba was never an American track. You could use another track to replace Tsukuba.

 

[Autofreak4986]

6. Amanda's Curse, part 2​

"Hey, where is she going with that?"

That's right--that was Jimmie Johnson's racecar we saw out on the Daytona Road Course. Brittany showed her displeasure to see something like this.

Unfortunately, before she could get to first place, she was struggling.

"Is this one of Alex Stanton's attempts to try to beat me?"
Unfortunately for him, he was going to get his feelings hurt and badly.

"WHAT?! Why is Jimmie Johnson's racecar out here?!"
"Wait a second...why am I going faster than ever? This...just isn't right."
And just like that, she led the rest of the race...

...and dominated it.
"It's like there's a powerful force pushing me and the car...oh no--is this car acting like the Devil-Z?"
Brittany and Chief were not going to like this one bit. I have the strangest feeling that any car like this she drives might act like the blue 280Z everyone's trying to beat in the Wangan Midnight manga--again, it's as if someone or something has possessed her to drive really fast, step on opponents and not even know it.
"I WAS RIGHT! Why not just go to the World Championship already?!" That was until Sian got out of the car and took off her helmet. "That was a girl? It's Amanda's Curse!"
Again, in the garage, I caught her sitting down, writing in her diary. Brittany was relieved to see that her car was in one piece--not a scratch anywhere.
Dear Diary: That was an exhilarating experience. I saw one of Alex's potential opponents from one of his dreams and floored him or her--in the #48 Impala. I could see makeup on the driver of the CarbonR, however. I really don't like this b/c I've heard the story of how Brittany and Rebecca who drives the #18 Camry don't get along and don't like each other. I'm assuming the driver of the CarbonR is a girl acting like a racer who keeps interrupting events, boasting about how great he is. That's being someone you're not, and that's not cool around other people. And w/e this girl is trying to pull, I think she's doing it wrong.
"Wow, Alex, she's talented! Are you sure she hasn't done this before? I'm a little mad she took my racecar out for a spin, but she handled it pretty well."
A few weeks later, Sian got her high school diploma in the mail and showed it to me when we got back to L.A. She still plans to go to college, though.
"I plan to go to USC in the fall."
"Well, that's nice. Got any plans that involve fast cars?"
I covered my mouth when I said that, failing to realize that that is what makes her feisty and makes her want to push cars to their limits everywhere; in fact, mentioning "fast cars" in a sentence fires her up. I think I just let a monster in...now how am I going to get out of this?

 

[uMadson?]

Pretty short chapter. I want something quite lively.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more chapters. 👍