Michael couldn't believe what had just happened. It was like something out of a video game. He gazed out the window as they soared through the sky, the helicopter's blades chopping through the air like a Jimmy Hendrix guitar riff. As he began to relax, a whole bunch of questions filled Michael's mind. "How do you know the cops wont recognize us later? " he asks. "Its dark and we all had something shielding our faces, that will throw off the facial recognition, and they can't prove anything without it." Wall Street says nonchalantly. Michael still felt unsure. "Plus, they have no way of knowing whose car that was. We don't need license plates anymore cause of DriveNet."
Michael realized these people did this thing all the time and never got arrested, so he felt somewhat safe. Still. That had been highly illegal.
After what seemed like half an hour, the helicopters gingerly dropped the racers in an empty parking lot. Across the street was a nightclub that seemed to pulse with electronic music. It had a holographic sign that said The Apex. Wall Street eagerly hops out of his car, followed by Nebulae and Shiga. Michael sat in the Mustang, and shut off the engine.
Michael didn't think he could do this. He had school tomorrow, and he was tired. It was past 9 PM.
"Hey man." Michael jumped, realizing Shiga had just gotten in the car with him.
"I don't like it there either. There's in Indian place a few blocks from here, they have a great curry. Wanna go there?"
Michael realized it would be a great opportunity to get some answers.
"Uhhh sure ok."
He started the car, and Shiga punched in the directions on the GPS. It was literally a few blocks away, so Michael didn't bother speeding.
"Y'know Ed doesn't let just anyone drive this thing, much less borrow it for this long... so what's your story? " Shiga asks.
"There was a YouTube video that came out last week, the one with the Foxbody and the BRZ, in the West Canyon. I was the one filming in the Foxbody. Next thing we knew, my sister- she drove the BRZ- posted it to her channel and then I wake up the next morning and it goes viral. Racing Authority invites us to this race, and we're down on cash so we enter... and well, we won. The organizer guy sent us to Ed..."
"So your'e the Asphalt Knight... do you have any idea what that means?"
"The hell if I know... I just remember the name because it was this bedtime story my mom told us before she... *sigh* ... I don't remember it, just something about a 'shining silver and blue'-"
"-BMW M3 GTR, no one knew who he was, but he always always there when the racers needed him, he gave them hope, he raced for the poor, he raced for the weak, for the innocent -" Shiga said, finishing the sentence.
"You know it too?"
"That story's been passed down for almost half a century. There's some truth it. I'll explain in a sec."
They reached the restaurant. It was a small place in next to the boutique shops, towards the edge of Downtown, the kinda place where all the hipsters liked to hangout. Michael parked the car out front, and followed Shiga inside. The place looked clean enough, with simple menus and a few old school flat screen televisions mounted in the corners. They sat across from each other in a booth. The place was practically empty. Shiga ordered his food, and Michael sat silently.
"You're not getting anything?"
"I ate earlier this evening, I went, well, it wasn't a date, I just went to dinner with this girl I know at school."
"You're still in school! How on Earth-"
"My dad used to race in Le-Mans stuff, GT3 I think... he had us running Driver PM deliveries since we were in middle school."
"That explains a lot. Anyway... let me tell you about the story of the Asphalt Knight. So like... 50 or 60 years ago, there was this guy. Marched right into Rockport city, in this M3 GTR, million dollar race car, right off the GT1 circuit, that shit was not street legal. The big issue there is that there is a bunch of cops after the racers there, and there is a bunch of crime and stuff. Rolls into the racing scene there, starts winning everything. But then he looses the car in a pink slip race to this low level guy there.
For most, the story ends there... but not for this guy. He went out and he bought a shitty hatchback with the last of his money, and clawed his way to the top. He beat everyone, won everything, drove whatever he could afford, beat their top 15 guys, became notorious with the cops. He helped out random racers along the way, like stealing back cars wrongfully seized by the cops, winning back pink slips from cheaters, out right stopping criminals, like he once took out some bank robbers during their getaway and led the cops to them, real Robin Hood shit. Then he wins back his M3 from the top guy, and then (at this point he's Most Wanted), he takes his car and gets the hell outta there, with every cop in the state after him, AND federal pursuit units. He escapes, and becomes legend. Like they made a video game about it or something.
Then I wanna say about 7 or 8 years later, he shows up again, this time in Fairhaven. The big deal there is that the racers there are having their rides seized by cops for no reason. He takes his M3 - this is the same car- , runs circles around cops, wins all the races, takes the pink slip of their top 15 drivers to the point where the cops just give up. Like they just stopped bothering racers. Then he disappears again. For the next few decades after, nothing.
Right before DriveNet goes online, when cars are being outlawed and race series are being shut down, during the first Horizon Festival, the one in Rockport, this new guy shows up. The same car, same godlike skill. This has to be the same guy right? But its been like 20 years, and its still supposedly this young guy. He dominates everybody, runs circles around the cops. But this guy is different, he helps organize races, he brings up a class system. Now racers are organized, they do their races and the cops can't even find them. Again, he wins everything, and then the cops come after him, and he gets the hell out of there again. He escapes. The people who he used to help organize everything? They became Racing Authority. His legacy was so badass that they got street racing legalized if it was organized his way... and then he disappears.
Now he's this legend. Racers tell his story to their kids, his car is the Racing Authority's mascot. He shows up when the spirit of racing itself is threatened, protecting us from the cops, humiliating cheaters and criminals. Like a Knight of the round table, protector of the kingdom of racing if you will. A road warrior..."
"An Asphalt Knight" Michael finishes.
"Exactly." Shiga says, as his food arrives.
"But here's the thing..." Shiga says in-between bites of food. "This all can't be one guy, assuming this story is all true, 'cuz there's no videos of it... Those things took place many years apart, so my theory is that the car is passed down to whoever can keep the legend going... There's more than one Asphalt Knight if you will. Either that or this is some metahuman shit. They say the car has 'magical' abilities, like impenetrable armor, like better than the fusionite stuff on my Corvette, and regenerative NOS. That part is probably bullshit people added to make it a full on tall tale, but still..."
"So why are you telling me all this?"
"Maybe, just maybe, you are the next one. You drove circles around Agent Shifter, you haven't lost a race... think about it. Crime rates in Palmont are higher than ever, and the cops harass the racers despite it being perfectly legal now...I think pretty soon there's gonna be an M3 driftin' around to remind us of who we are."
"Really? I'm not that good. And if I was, then my sister would probably beat me to it..."
"Well, its just a thought." Shiga finished his food. He payed the bill and stood up.
"That reminds me... you won, so here's your prize!" Shiga handed Michael the glowing card worth 4000 credits.
"Don't waste it on something stupid, K?"
Michael finally asked the real question that was bothering him.
"Why'd you... y'know"
"Save your ass twice?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when I was your age, I was getting into the same sort of trouble. My dad was a mob boss, I just wanted to race cars, and well, one day I got caught. I'm a wanted man. I can't get a real job. So if I see someone who needs help... I save them, to keep good people from going through what I had to go through, lets just say."
"But you lost the race because of what you did just now."
"Loosing a race is worth it if you get to learn what a man is made of."
They walked out of the restaurant together.
"PM me on the blacklist app if you're up for another race. I best be going"
Shiga snaps his fingers, and his blue Corvette powerslides around the street corner and parks in front of them. He gets in, salutes Michael, and drives away.
Michael got in the 350R and started the drive home.
He couldn't decide if Shiga was the smartest or the craziest man he had ever met. Perhaps he was both.
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