章 143: Finality

"GO GO GO!"

Ori slams the accelerator to the ground and has the car shoot forward, its tires squealing as it tries to tear up the road below. Sampson and Dean do the same, but both of their vehicles were not as fast off the start line as Ori's.

Rebecca doesn't sit idle, cackling and immediately throwing out a dozen sticky grenades on the road in front of them as they drive. Other racers who don't notice end up exploding into flames as the bombs detonate under or near their cars.

Sampson barely avoids the attack, while Dean's truck just tanks it due to its anti-mine under armour he'd had installed.

Claire and Sampson's new gunner immediately opens fire on the Mizutani, peppering the back of the small car on the newly placed armoured. They try score some hits on the tires but the vehicle is too low to the ground to easily target.

Ori drifts around a corner leaving skid marks in the road as Sampson hurriedly tries to follow. Dean's vehicle was simply too slow to keep up around the tight bends of Japantown, not to mention the other competitors firing at him to try and take his place.

"What the fuck is that!?" Rebecca exclaims, pointing down the road at a man holding something in his arms. As they approach he slings it across the street, leaving a large spike strip in the duo's path.

"What happened to no external interference!?" Ori grouses, turning onto the pavement as pedestrians scream and jump out of the way. Unfortunately, the spike does clip the back tire, slashes and bursts it.

Much to Ori's chagrin, the guy retracts the strip as the other racers approach, taking advantage of Ori's slowed speed.

Regardless, a single fucked tire wasn't going to ruin the race. He twists the car back on the road while barely pulling it back from skidding into a nearby wall. Sampson cruises up behind them, but moves to Ori's side as Rebecca pops out with Guts.

*BANGBANG!*

Some pellets imbed themselves in Sampson's front windscreen while others bounced off, his gunner who'd been trying to get a shot on her yelps as some penetrate his wrist. "Don't be a pussy, just shoot them!"

"Are you not seeing what I'm seeing!? That crazy bitch almost took my head off! You're all well and good behind the fucking glass!"

"I'm not paying you to complain! Do your fucking job or get outta the car!" Sampson angrily shouts.

"Fine, but I want extra for every injury!" the gunner growls as Sampson drives up to Ori's window. The gunner leans out to get a point-blank shot at Ori when-

*BANG!*

"Hahaha! Unlike you assholes, I don't miss twice!" Rebecca cackles as Sampson gapes at his now headless teammate.

"I'm still here!!" he shouts back, pushing the corpse outta the car before closing the door again. He reaches into the glovebox and grabs his own pistol, "Fuck you!"

*Crash!*

Sampson's head crashes forwards as another car rear-ends him, he glances backwards and spots some hilly billy hick-looking mother fuckers grinning at him.

While Sampson does his best to deal with them, Dean and Claire were steadily catching up to Ori. Claire stayed put in the car, not wanting to get domed like Sampson's driver had, their current game plan was to simply run the Mizutani off the road.

Rebecca fires off a few shots at the truck, but they just bounce off the door ineffectively, "Ram incoming!"

"Got it..." Ori acknowledges, having the nanites assist a manoeuvre he was pretty sure is impossible. He turns the wheel and uses the handbrake for a split second, with the one ruined tire this causes the car to spin around fully.

The truck that was about to clip the car simply passes to the other side, leaving Ori to realign the car back front and centre.

"WOOHOOOO!!!" Rebecca screams victoriously at them somehow pulling that off... Despite them still being in a similar situation.

"How the fuck!?" Claire shrieks wide-eyed at what'd just happened.

"That kid's got balls, I'll tell you what!" Dean chuckles good-naturedly, surprised and impressed.

"Whatever, think they can do it again? Ram 'em!" Claire shouts.

Dean nods, accelerating and getting ready for a full-on side swipe... Only to blink as Rebecca tosses three sticky grenades just above the front right tire. "Oh..."

"Who cares! Just ram 'em anyway!" Claire states, prompting Dean to try and crash into the Mizutani with the grenades.

*BOOM!*

The truck swerves hard as the explosion rocks it, also barely catching Ori's car which almost sends it into a spiral. The Mizutani goes through a lampost but he manages to bring it back in, using the momentum to drift around the upcoming corner.

"Holy shit! Didn't think we'd make that!" Ori says as they clear the corner, the other racers trailing behind awkwardly.

"The guys behind us aren't as lucky." Rebecca remarks while watching Dean accidentally crash into Sampson while trying to regain control of his truck.

Sampson screams as the large vehicle overturns his, flipping it on its roof and sending it skittering towards a low offroad metal barrier. He tries to get his belt off to avoid the upcoming collision but isn't fast enough.

*SMASH!*

*SPLATTER!*

The metal barrier pierces straight through the front windscreen as the car drives upside down into it. Sampson can't do anything but sit there as his head gets pressed against the metal and explodes, covering the entire interior of his car in blood and brain matter.

"Oh my god!" Claire gags at the gory sight, never having thought Sampson would actually die in one of these races, let alone to them.

"J-Just don't mind it or it'll be us next! Keep your head in the game!" he exclaims, trying to catch up to Ori but not managing it due to the front tire being trapped by warped metal, courtesy of Rebecca's earlier grenades.

He just rubs his face, "Even with Sampson gone, looks like we're destined for second place..."