Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Love Is A Mystery ❯ The Final! ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I own Draco, Blaze417 owns Magnum, Spyder33 owns Spyder.

A/N: This Chapter has a slight recap from the tail end of the previous chapter.

Thoughts—`Conscience Talking'—~“Electronic Speech”~

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Draco was zippin' along, trying his level best to keep up with Cyborg. However, things started to get worse by the second. It started with a crazy jump that ended up with Draco riding right into the tail end of the T-Car. Luckily, Draco somehow knew what was about to happen, so he unbuckled his seatbelt (kids, NEVER do this under ANY circumstances), and weakened the windshield by pounding on it as much as he could before the impact. He may not know if entering the race was a good idea now, but at least he knew that he wouldn't win, this time. However, once both cars had cleared the jump and made the approach to the opposite side of the stunt, Cyborg had not only flown his car over Draco's, but had also landed right in front of the Civic. If Draco was a few inches further, the T-Car would have crushed the front end of the Civic. However, the two cars landed so close together, that the Civic rear-ended the T-Car when they both made contact with the roadway, hurling Draco through the weakened windshield. As if that weren't enough, Draco's momentum sent him smacking into the back window of Cyborg's baby, and then in the air a bit before he fell to the ground. Only moments later, Draco's own car ran him over—more like “rolled over him”—due to the crash sending the Civic out of control and flipping over, with its momentum making it continue its original path. Anything Cyborg could of done was put on hold as he sped over the line, oblivious to what just happened.

Draco was only able to yell “OH SHIT!” before the car rolled over his stunned body and continue its path, followed by a screeching halt. Once the car stopped, the sparks ignited the NOS, causing the car to explode. Raven felt as if she caused the car to explode after it stopped sliding, but she remembered that her powers were being canceled out, then she realized that Draco's car just blew up, but she didn't know whether Draco was still inside or not, due to no one seeing him being thrown out of the car before the crash.

~“SWEET MOTHER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN! LOOKS LIKE THIS NIGHT WILL HAVE QUITE A SURPRISE FOR US! THE FIRST CRASH OF THE EVENING! WILL THE DRIVER SUVIVE?”~ the announcer yelled when he saw the massive chaos. He personally didn't care, as long as people came to Crash Alley, he was happy.

With Draco out of the race, Cy had plenty of room to win, and he did, with a record track time of 15.88 seconds. Once he crossed the finish line, he immediately stopped and got out of his car, and ran towards the smoking Civic, with a fire extinguisher handy to put out any other fires to prevent further explosions.

 

The Stands…

Half the crowd was talking with others, while Raven jumped the rail and ran to Draco as well, but someone stopped her, and when she turned around, she saw Sue holding onto her arm, with a look on her face that somewhat assured her that Draco was ok, and it was a little dangerous at this point.

Please be okay. We were so close to saying how we felt about each other. I don't want to lose you, she thought, thinkin' that she was about to lose the only person that ever cared for her on a personal level, who she cared for as well.

 

On The Track…

Cy was busy clearing the smoke and putting out any fires to prevent any further explosions, knowing full well what could happen. Once all of that was cleared, Cyborg found Draco's body a few feet ahead of the ramp, “Oh man, I hope he's still in one piece.” He went to check on Draco, who wasn't moving, and had a few burn marks and cracks on his body armor.

 

Stands, Raven's POV…

Raven was now trying to get out of Sue's grip, and Sue thought, She must be a loved one of the driver of the wreck. So she let her go.

When Raven was out of Sue's grip, she ran to Draco's body, with tears in her eyes, and she sat down next to him, lied across his body, and started to silently cry on his body. Cyborg saw that, and walked over to her side and placed a hand on her back, trying to comfort her, since he didn't know if Draco was still alive either.

 

Inside the club, TV on 1st floor…

Star, Robin, BB, Magnum and Jinx all watched in horror as the several replays of the explosion were playing, but Magnum and Jinx were not as concerned for their comrade and friend. They knew that Draco was tough and the suit could absorb a lot of damage, but the pounding he took made them all worry. BB was about to run out there and see for himself if Draco was okay, but—like his typical self—he didn't want to miss anything on the TV.

 

Outside, racing arena, at site of explosion…

Cy was trying to get Raven to calm down before anything bad could start, since he knew that Raven's powers could go out of control when she feels emotions.

“Uh…come on Raven, he'll be okay,” apparently, it wasn't working. Raven was crying, most likely very upset, and Draco wasn't conscious to prevent any possible damage that was sure to occur. Sure enough, raven's powers started creating chaos. All around him, people started to panic as things started exploding and collapsing while Raven broke-down on Draco's lifeless body.

“RAVEN! You're startin' ta destroy the place! Ya need ta clam down!” Raven heard that, and tried to calm herself down. She did, but only enough to stand up. Unable to stop herself, she lunged forward and hugged Cyborg while crying lightly on him. Since Cy didn't know what to do, he just stood there sweat dropping and hugged her back.

After a few minutes, the others made it outside and tried to get the crowd to relax a bit and exit in an orderly fashion until the mess could be cleared up. Once the crowd was at a safe distance, they went back and check on Draco, but by that time.

Fortunately, the robotic teen got the sobbing Raven away from the fallen human livewire to help calm her down and to keep her reputation up, “Raven, I want you ta stay here until I come back.”

“Are you going to tell anyone that I cried?”

“No I won't. I'll just make sure he's ok, and I'll help the others in any way possible, then I'll come get you and take you home.”

“Okay.”

“Just try ta keep quiet.” She nodded, and Cy ran back to the wreckage as if he never left and started to examine Draco's body to see if he was alive and if he had any broken bones.

“Dude, what happened here? Why is there a bunch of holes in the stands? And where's Raven?” BB asked Cy while he was trying to find any signs of life in Draco.

Cy answered with, “Car crash, Draco was thrown out of the car before it blew up, I don't know, and she went home.”

“What do you think caused it ta blow up?”

“Beats me. My guess would be the NOS. Only thing is, as long as he's in the armor, we can't do anything while he's unconscious.”

“If only Cortona was here…”

“WILL YOU STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT? SHE AIN'T HERE, SHE NOT REAL—as far as I know—AND I AM SICK OF YOU BRINGING IT UP. Now we just hafta help him ourselves,” Cy said to BB, a bit annoyed at how much he keeps on mentioning the game that he plays every day.

“How are going to help him? We are not able to help him if he is in that body suit he is wearing, for we know nothing about it. And I am almost certain Jinx does not know anything about this as well.” Star asked, looking at Jinx as she nodded back.

“Well, someone should call 911, because if we can't help him, then they could,” Robin suggested, but Cy noticed that Draco was starting to move.

“Hold up,” he called to the others, “he's coming around!”

“Uh, my head,” Draco groggily said as he stood up with his head still facing the ground and leaned against a nearby wall. He used his hand to pick up his head up and said, “Air-bag's a little slow,” right after he said that, the air bag in the partly wrecked Civic popped out and quickly deflated, “but that's what this suit is for!” He let go of his head and let it fall back down, then he looked up again while he cracked his heck in one fluid motion and asked everyone, “What happened?”

“After your Civic rear-ended that other car you were flung out the windshield, then it ran over you and blew up. Consider your self lucky that you survived that.”

Draco immediately recognized the feminine voice coming from the helmet's internal speakers (In other words, so no one else can hear what's being said by the voice), “What are you doin' here? I thought that I you were in the Banshee's computer?”

“Uh, who are you talkin to dude?” BB asked. Like he was, everyone else was thinking the exact thing; why was Draco talkin' to himself?

“Huh? Oh, uh give me a minute…” He took the time to activate the external speakers on his suit then a holo-pad on the palm side of his gloved hand. “Ok guys I want you to meet Cortona.”

When he said that, a holographic foot-tall woman appeared on the banshee's built-in holo-pad. She was slender. The hue of her skin varied from lavender to navy-blue, depending on her mood and the ambient lighting. Her lavender “hair” was cropped short. Her face had a hard angular beauty, even in her blue eyes. Lines of code flickered up and down her luminous body. And if anyone viewed her from the right angle, they could catch a glimpse of the skeletal structure inside her ghostly form. (A/N: Quoted from HALO: The Fall Of Reach—save for the eyes—The Official Prequel To The Game.)

When she came into view, BB almost flipped, “Holy shit! Cortona! Someone pinch me, I must be dreamin'.”

Cortona placed her arms akimbo, and said, “Why would you be dreaming?”

“Cuz I can't believe that I'm meeting the real Cortona.”

“Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not exactly the real Cortona. I'm a copied version of her, custom personalized for use by Spartan-388, but I still have most of her best skills and abilities, and I was also copied with her personality. So it may seem like I'm the real Cortona, but I'm just a copy, so try to remember that.”

“Exactly,” Draco said, “so, anyone seen Raven?” It just then occurred to the others that Raven wasn't around.

“She went on home.” Cy told him, hopin to keep Draco from starting to show anything that might expose their unspoken love for each other in front of the other Titans.

“Oh well. I'll just head back home then.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Robin asked him, wondering how he can be fine when he was tossed through thick glass and crushed.

“Yeah it's cool. I'm fine, the armor's got a few scratches, the faceplate visor needs to be fixed and the burn marks come off easily. As for the Civic…it needs to be towed.” Draco reassured him.

“But, if you were just in an explosion, one of that magnitude, then how can you be unharmed? And if your vehicle has been the cause for the explosion, then how can it still fly?” Star asked, wondering the same thing as just about everyone else.

“Simple, the fire was created by a bunch of sparks that came from the top of the car when it was skiddin' on the ground, and the `ka-boom' was the NOS tanks exploding `cause of the fire. Only the fact that he was thrown out the front was `cause he probably punched out the front window.” Magnum said, knowing how that worked, seeing how Draco's done that before.

“Well, I'd like to stay and chat, but we've got to go.” Cortona said, surprised that one of Draco's comrades survived that trip to Earth a while back (I'll explain that in detail later in the story—part of the deal with “Maria” from Chapter 5).

“Alright, let's go,” Draco said as Cortona's hologram vanished into Draco's gauntlet, but little did he, as well as the others except for Cy, know that Raven was softly crying behind the stands. Draco started walking away, the Titans staring in bewilderment and disbelief at how tough Draco was, even without the armor, while talking with Cortona.

“Now that that's taken care of, lets get those people back in here, so we can finish the tournament…!” Cy just realized that Draco didn't get his prize and that he needed to tell/show Raven that he was still alive, so called for Draco to get back, but Draco was too busy talkin with Cortona to hear Cyborg.

Fortunately, Cortona heard him via the external speakers, and told Draco, “One of your `friends', I can assume, is trying to get your attention.”

“Oh, what does he want? I gotta get to the Tower and pick up Raven.”

“I don't kno who that is, but I think he's saying that you forgot something.”

“You know I forget a lot of things. But I'll go see what he's talkin about.”

With his mind made up, Draco turned about-faced and walked back over to Cyborg while asking, “So what'd I forget this time?”

“Ya know how we were ta get trophies? Well with the accident and all, we had to clear the stands. Plus I gotta tell ya something.”

“Where're the others?”

“They're gettin' the people back in the stands. But listen; remember when I said that Raven went home? Well, I lied.”

“You WHAT? Why?”

“Cuz she just about destroyed the place when she was crying over your body while you were out,” Cyborg semi-calmly said while indicating to the destroyed section of the stands.

“She cried?! Well, where the hell is she if she ain't home?”

“Right behind the stands. Don't worry, I'll keep quiet about you and her, I promise.”

“Thanks.” Now that Draco knew where Raven really was, he went to the stands to let her know that he was ok. He was too busy walking away to comprehend that Cyborg knew the secret attraction between the livewire and sorceress…

 

Behind Viewing Stands…

Draco ran behind the stands, thankful that they were still standing, and he looked around for the one he secretly loved. So far, he had no luck, despite the way Spartans always seemed to generate their own luck.

“Raven! Raven! Raven, where are you?” he called out, planning to use his enhanced hearing to locate her when she answered.

“[sniff] I'm right here, [sob],” was all the half-dragon heard from the distressed gothic girl. Using what he had, he walked over to her.

At first, Raven didn't recognize Draco's voice, her emotional distress too high from the feeling of possibly losing the only person to ever care for her—that she mentally admits liking back. When Draco found her, she was sitting on the ground with her hands covering her face, with tears slowing sliding down her face. He smiled at that, he knew for sure that he was making progress.

“Raven, I'm here,” he called softly. Raven looked up, and saw Draco out of his armor, smiling sweetly at her.

“Draco? [gasp] you're ok!” She stood-up, and ran towards Draco, and hugged him tightly, relieved that he was still in one piece, and he did the same, now knowing that she really does care for him.

“How did you survive? I thought that you were—”

“Shh. It's okay, I'm here, I'm here,” he said as he held her tightly, while she cried into his chest a little. They stayed that way for a little while, both feeling he mutual care and affection from each other.

When Raven felt like she could talk again, she asked, “You wanna know something?”

“What?”

“While you were unconscious, I didn't know if you were still alive, and well, I cried.”

I already know, but I guess it only matters if she admits it. I guess she does care about me. But, I still don't know if I should tell her how I feel while we're here…I know! I'll tell her at the Tower! Draco thought to himself. Raven read his mind for his reaction to her show of emotion, and decided to tell him how she felt at the Tower too, but one thing caused her to worry slight, “Wait, do the others know about us?”

“I don't think so. Come on, I'll take you home like I said.”

“But you didn't get your prize yet.”

“Oh, well come on, lets get it, then I'll take you home. But first, ya need ta dry up those tears. Come on, you can do it. There ya go. Here put your hood on, it'll help hide those tears a little. Good girl,” he gently said, and hugged her closely, almost feeling the exact same thing that Raven was feeling; contentment and deep affection.

 

Meanwhile, trophy room…

“Why is it so quiet now? One second the crowd's goin' crazy, the next, they're as quiet as church mice,” Blackfire thought out loud, not knowing what had just happened. Blackfire was ready for the finals to begin, now that she had on her flag-girl outfit on.

“[knock, knock] Are you ready in there? I've got some news for you,” Blackfire's assistant asked through the door to Blackfire's dressing room.

“Almost. Come on in. I need some help with this metal thing. What is it?” The assistant cautiously walked in, and while her assistant helped her put on the finishing touches to her outfit she told her, “There's been an accident in the semi-final race. Everyone's OK, especially the driver of the vehicle that crashed, as odd as it may seem.”

“What? How can that be? Who crashed?”

“Well, we don't know how it happened, but from the looks of the people that helped the driver out, he was a friend of the Teen Titans. And if I check my stats, the name of the driver is…Draco Dragonuv.”

“What kind of name is that? Well anyway, are the finals about to start?”

“Yes they are. The Titans are getting the people back into their seats as we speak. But you've got to help us find the security guard. He's due to help deliver the trophies in a few minutes.”

“Okay, I think he might be helpin' with the crowd.”

“Right. See ya in a few,” the assistant called as she walked out. Blackfire stayed a few seconds longer before she grabbed a long cloak and headed out to get to her position in the final race.

Just like she suggested, the bouncer was helping the Titans herd the people back into the stands.

 

Back in the arena…

~“WELL LADIES AND GENTS, THAT WAS SOME SHOW, WOULDN'T YOU AGREE FOLKS?”~ the announcer started up, after the crowd took their seats in a different section, and the crowd responded with some cheers.

~“NOW I BET THAT YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT HAS BECOME OF DRACO RIGHT? WELL ACCORDING TO HIS FRIENDS, HE'S ALIVE AND IN ONE PIECE. SO, LETS GIVE OUT OUR TROPHIES TO THE TOP FIVE VICTORS. IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE, CYBORG! IN SECOND, DRACO! IN THIRD, BIGGI! IN FOURTH, BURNOUT! AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, FIFTH, LEON!”~ As each name was listed, the crowd cheered for them, and the security guard assisted in handing out the trophies.

~”LETS GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!”~ The crowd applauded and cheered for the top five races of the year.

After about thirty seconds of applause, the announcer started up again, ~”NOW THAT YOU FIVE HAVE YOUR TROPHIES, LETS GET ON WITH THE FINALS!!! CYBORG, YOU ARE NOW ELIGIBLE TO RACE LAST YEAR'S CHAMPION RACER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE! WE'LL GET AQUATINTED WITH HIM MOMENTARILY. AS FOR YOU FOUR, GOOD LUCK NEXT TIME!”~

Biggi, Draco, Burnout, and Leon nodded and walked off to the stands. When Draco got there, he nodded in Raven's direction and she got up and walked down the stairs along the side of the stands that lead to the arena's exit. When she got to where he parked his Banshee outside the arena, she saw Draco placing his trophy in the storage compartment under the seat. After he grabbed his clothes he vanished for a minute or less before he reappeared with his clothes on but no armor then took out the extra helmet, set it on the seat, put the armor in the storage and inserted some chip into the Banshee's dash, then he put his helmet back on.

“Ready?” he asked, knowing that Raven was two feet away from him.

“Do you think you can fly it in your condition?”

“Of course he's able to, all he has to do is type in the coordinates, and I'll take it from there,” Cortona spoke up from the Banshee's holo-pad.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, how silly of me, where are my manners these days?” she said sarcastically, “my name is Cortona. I am a human Artificial Intelligence program given to SPARTAN-388 to guard to prevent the Covenant forces from capturing me and destroying Earth.”

“How many times do I gotta tell ya, you're a computer program that I (legally people) copied and personalized for my own purposes, using the likeness of the real Cortona!”

“You know I like to say that. So, who is this lovely young lady? I don't remember seeing her when I was talking with your other friends.”

“I'm Raven,” she said as she tried to hide her blush, “it's a pleasure to meet you. How long have you been with Draco?”

“About a year now. And, if I'm correct—which I always am, you are one of the city's local heroes, the Teen Titans, right?”

“You are. How much do you know about Draco?”

“Just about everything there is to know about him, like the time that he told me that—”

Draco interrupted to stop the holographic embodiment of an AI from telling Raven an embarrassing story, “Well, its nice to know you two are gettin' along, but we need to go!” he said with a sweat-drop on the back of his head.

Draco typed in the coordinates of the Tower (he might be a bit unstable from the punishment he took from the crash, but Cortona is able to fly it without the aid of a map), and Cortona's body started to fade, then she vanished completely after a full two seconds. Raven quickly got the other helmet and put on, then got on the Banshee right behind Draco, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his back. And off they went to the Tower, with Cortona driving, ready to turn in, or so they thought… (^_^)

 

Back in arena, after short break, start of the final race…

~“WELL FOLKS,”~ the announcer started up again, ~”SINCE WE CAN'T SEEM TO FIND OUR…OH WAIT I THINK I SEE HIS CAR…YEP THAT'S HIM RIGHT THERE!”~ the announcer pointed to the car that was just pulling into the arena.

The car was a 1999 Nissan Skyline R34 GTR, it had a wide body, a pearlescent black paint job, dark-pink tinted windows, and the body paint seemed to make the flame vinyl on the sides and the hood of the car turn pinkish-purple. It had a rumble muffler tip, shadow front and rear bumpers, and side skirts, on the under side of the car, there was a pinkish glow, from the neon underneath. It had the car's original head and taillights and a Dual GT spoiler (In case you're wonderin why I went into detail on the champ's car, is so if you have NFS: U for X-BOX, you can put the car together yourself and see what it looks like).

While some people were starting to doubt the seriousness of the champ, Sue, Biggi, and TJ were looking on with smirks on their faces. Cy was looking skeptically at the car as it pulled up beside him. The window lowered, and the driver stuck out a bulky, black gloved hand, waiting for Cy to shake it. Cy wanted to see the champ's face, so he looked in the car, and saw what he thought looked like Draco, but the body suit was black instead of the sage, but it still had the orange faceplate.

“Is that you Draco?” he asked the driver.

The driver challengingly said, “No, I'm your worst nightmare.”

“Okay, whatever. Good luck winning this, cuz you're gonna lose,” Cy said as he shook the driver's hand. After doing so, the driver withdrew his hand, the window went back up, and the loud music could be heard from inside the Skyline.

A few seconds later, Blackfire—currently unrecognizable by Cyborg—showed up to start them off. After a few seconds of gauging the size of the crowd—including the male population—she pulled arm out from her cloak (the thing's covering her whole body), grabbed the edge of it by her shoulder, and after a short pause she threw the cloak off exposing her outfit underneath. When she did, the driver of the Skyline was in another world; he may have not known about her past, but he knew one thing…she was the most beautiful girl he ever met, and she was even cuter in the outfit she was wearin'. Not only was the Skyline's driver in another world, but Cy and half the male crowd was staring at her.

I was afraid this was going to happen, she thought sarcastically to herself.

What she was wearing consisted of black boots that went up to her mid-thighs, what looked like a black-colored body suit that was shaped like a bathing suit without the shoulder straps that covered her upper body, but with the stomach and back exposed. A strange black skirt covered the bottom of the suit, but exposed the sides of her legs, a metallic-black breastplate covered the top of the body suit but left part of her breasts into view, and it had a purplish-pink gem embedded in it. Semi-transparent black sleeves were held onto her arms by metallic armlets on her upper arms. (In short, the same outfit that Ailish wares on Sudeki, but it's all black.)

She started them off the same way the other flag girl did, and the T-Car started off with screechin' and smokin' tires, the Skyline starting the same way. Both cars were equally fast, but Cy's rocket-fueled car was giving him an advantage, while the mystery racer had another advantage, he had a lot of prototype performance upgrades on his whole car that gave him an outstanding top speed and acceleration, courtesy of TJ, and he knew exactly when to shift into the next gear. Biggi, Sue and TJ were watching with the same smirks they had when they saw the Skyline enter the arena.

 

Cy's POV…

“Damn that guy's fast. He races like he's playing a game! That ain't funny ta me, so time for tank #1 ta go!” And there Cy went, shooting off his first tank of NOS, getting him a big lead, but the Skyline was still following close behind. “WHAT? How can that be? He should be 30 yards behind me, not 5 feet!” Cy was getting madder by the second, but he didn't give up. But one thought distracted him for a second, “Hold up! That was Blackfire that started us off! Holy shit! What's she doin here?”

 

Skyline Driver's (Driver X's) POV…

“Man, this guy's good, but he doesn't have technique!” He shot off half of his first tank of NOS, and he started to catch up with the futuristic-looking car, and he caught to him while the NOS was active, “Maybe if I were ta smoke him, that help me win the black-haired babe's heart. But I wonder why Draco crashed…his little Civic puts everyone to shame, yet he lost a drag race to this guy twice…”

 

Blackfire's POV…

“Wow, I'm just loving the paint job that Skyline has, but, who is the driver of it? Whoever he is, he must be trying ta get my attention, plus he's racing so wonderfully. So I guess he does have my attention. I'm surprised that Cyborg didn't recognize me. That would most likely mean that the others didn't either…”

`Ya know, why not go say hi to Star? After all, she's in the crowd this time, and she didn't see you, I think,' Blackfire's conscience was trying to get her attention away from the Skyline's driver long enough for her to say something to her sis, which she hadn't seen in a year and a half.

 

In the stands, Titans' POVs…

“Ya know, that flag girl looked familiar, don't ya think Robin?” BB asked Robin, thinking that he recognized the flag girl.

“Not really, but she did seem like someone we've met before, but I can't put my finger on it,” Robin told him, unsure of her identity as well. He was trying to place the familiarity with everyone he knew, but had no luck doing so. If only he used family resemblance…

“I think I might be able to identify her, but I need to see her face. Where is she?” Star said, remembering that her sister was gonna pay them a visit and thought the flag girl might be her, as unlikely as that sounded.

“Uh, ain't that her right there?” Magnum asked while pointing to a girl with black hair and a very strange black outfit on walking towards them.

She took the seat next to them, and Star gasped in joy, “[Gasp] Sister? What are you doing here?”

“I'm being a good-girl while I'm living here on Earth. Why else would I look like this?” Blackfire said while accepting a death-hug from Star.

“Blackfire?” the other Titans asked in surprise.

“Yep, its me. Sorry I didn't inform you I was here, I don't like making big entrances ya know.”

“But why are you here? Should ya be on that planet with that giant slime-ball?” BB asked, wondering why the hell she was here.

“Well, I may have been banished from Tamaran, but my sister didn't say that I was banished to Dranthax IV, just from Tamaran. By the way, do any of you know who the driver of the fabulous car is?”

“Uh, if ya mean the cyber-looking one, then Cyborg's drivin' it.” BB said, not know which car Blackfire was talkin about.

“No, the other car, the Skyline. That black one.” Blackfire told the shape shifter while pointing to the said car.

“Why do you wish to know, dear sister?” Star asked, curious as to her intentions.

“Because I wanna know who he is cuz I've never met him, and he knows how to get my attention,” she simply said, with a glint in her eyes that only Star noticed because she was sitting next to her.

“I see where this going [wink, wink]. But sadly, I do not know the driver of the `Skyline' car that you are talking about.” Star said, teasin' Blackfire about where her intentions were goin.

“Man, I thought you knew who he was. Did you see what he looked like?” she asked, disappointed that no one knew who he was (If ya do, then keep it to yaself!).

“All I saw was his hand coming out of the car's window to shake with Cy. It was solid black and about as big as Cy's hand.” Robin told her, still puzzled about why she wanted to know, like the others.

“Oh, well. I guess that I'll just have ta wait `till the race is over if I wanna meet him,” Blackfire crestfallenly said. She hugged Star, and went back to the winner's circle to wait for the race to finish.

 

On the track…

Cy and the Skyline were tied again, but Cy was in the lead by license plate. What Cy didn't know, was that Driver-X (the driver of the Skyline, until his name's revealed) had a technique for getting ahead and winning: drafting! So he slowed down a bit, pulled up behind Cy—getting a slight speed increase due to the loss of wind resistance—and quickly pulled out from behind Cy before he could bump into Cy's rear. He used his higher speed to get ahead of Cy, and shot of the rest of his first NOS tank to get further ahead of him.

 

Cy's POV…

“WHAT THE HELL?!? How'd he do that?! I thought that you had ta stay in ya own lane in the races?”

`Well apparently not. So what are ya gonna do?'

“I'm gonna get payback!” and Cy tried to use the drafting technique that Driver-X used on him, but he couldn't get in the Skyline's draft zone.

“OK, I might need a slight speed boost here…” So Cy shot off his second tank of NOS, and he caught up with the Skyline.

“Heh, heh, heh, and this little robot went speedin' right over the finish line!” And he shot of two more tanks of NOS, but he was driving with his eyes shut as he said that, and he didn't know that the Skyline was in front of him by a few feet…

 

Driver-X's POV…

“What the heck is that guy doin?…Oh crap! He's gonna rear-end me! Unless…” When he finished that thought, he shot of the rest of his NOS, which was only two more big tanks, unlike the 5 small tanks in the T-Car and banshee, and he pulled away from Cy's car at a rate that Samus Aran's Speed Booster ability couldn't match. Once he got to his record top speed, 215 mph, he was just 30 yards from the finish.

But Cy saw that, and when the Skyline started pulling away very quickly, Cy panicked and shot off the rest of his NOS, and activated the turbo boosts, but he wasn't in his last gear, and his engine was over revvin', and getting hotter and hotter by the second, but Cy didn't notice. Just as he was about to catch up with the Skyline, his engine blew, causing him to stop dead in his tracks, with smoke coming out from under the hood.

With Cy out of the way, Driver-X smoked Cy, and finished with a new record time of 30.28 seconds (I know, as long as I may make the races seem, its only like a few seconds long). Once his car finally stopped, he turned around and drove to the winner's circle, where Blackfire was waiting for him, the championship title trophy in her hands, and a smile on her face.

~”WELL FOLKS, ONCE AGAIN LAST YEAR'S CHAMP IS THIS YEAR'S CHAMP! BUT I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS, AND NEITHER DO THE GUYS THAT GIVE ME MY INFO! MAYBE WE'LL FIND OUT NOW!”~ the announcer started, anxious to end the tournament.

The Skyline stopped, and the driver door opened and the driver stepped out. ~”WHAT THE…WELL FOLKS, OUR OWN SECURITY GUARD IS THE CHAMPION RACER, AND FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW! SO TELL US, WHO ARE YOU?”~ the announcer handed Blackfire a mic that she held for Driver-X, and he said, “My teammates call me Spyder, and so can you.”

~”WELL SPYDER, CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE WON FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW! TELL ME, WHAT'S YOUR SECRET TO WINNING THESE TITLES?”~ the announcer said, trying to get some more info on Spyder's strategy.

“I'd tell ya, but I'd have ta kill ya.” Spyder told him.

~”WELL, I GUESS WE SHOULD END THE NIGHT, SO LETS GIVE HIM A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE THREE-TIME CHAMP!”~

The crowd cheered for him, and the Titans were surprised to see that Blackfire wasn't trying to take the car, but Star knew exactly what she wanted, the driver (In a good way people!).

When the applause ended, the announcer ended the night, and everyone started leaving, except for the Titans. They headed down to the winner's circle, where they found Blackfire and Spyder talkin to each other. They congratulated him, while Blackfire and Star had a little `talk' (Once again, in a good way: Star teases Blackfire about finding love, like any little sister would, and Blackfire reminded Star that she was already married, but Star didn't care, cuz she did before her sister, and it made her a little mad).

“So Spyder, you said that you're part of a team, right? Well, out of curiosity, what team are you part of?” Robin asked, trying to get to know Spyder.

“I'm SPARTAN-389, but overall, the second best Spartan out there. My step-bro's number three, and the Master Chief is number one of course.” He responded.

“Well uh, who's your step-bro?” BB asked, thinking that this guy was like Draco.

“He's SPARTAN-388, likes to go by `Draco'.”

“WHAT?” all the Titans exclaimed, thinking that they were hearing things.

“I said that Draco was my step-bro.”

Now that the Titans knew that Draco had family, they wanted him to join up with them, but they would need to go though the initiation process again, so they just invited him over to the Tower. He accepted, and they all agreed to meet him there at 1200 hours, (12:00 p.m. (noon) for those of you that can't read military time).

Since no one wanted to go home yet, everyone decide ta go some where that was open, but BB wanted ta go home and turn in, so Magnum dropped him off. Cy couldn't due to the fact his car had a blown engine, so he had towed to a car shop that was open 24/7, and he went along to help with the repairs. Along the way, Star and Robin were on the R-Cycle, Magnum and Jinx were back in the Lotus (with Magnum's death wish driving), and Spyder and Blackfire rode in his Skyline, but they went somewhere else, to Spyder's place.

After lookin' around for a bit, the Titans decided ta go to the local nightclub called Neon Town. They all got there, and just like the name suggested, the place was lit up by nothin' but neon lights. Over in the far side was an area that wasn't lit by neon lights, but instead black lights. Magnum and Jinx went over there for a little `alone-time' while the others sat at a few tables and made idle chat, and they danced to a few songs, and pretty much had a hell of a time, and they didn't get back to the Tower until 1:30 am.

 

To Be Continued...

 

A/N: If any of y'all are wonderin if somethin' might happen at the Tower, then read the next chapter and find out! Cuz two things will ^_^ Also, I'm aware this chapter was a bit lengthy, but I had to rewrite to go with the new plot line, keeping some of the original plot lines in it.