The old harbor was a graveyard of forgotten ships and broken dreams. Rusted cranes loomed like skeletal sentinels over the decaying docks, and cold fog rolled in from the sea.
Axel parked Inferno at the edge of the container yard. He shut the engine, stepped out, and the silence hit him like a wall.
Until—
Clang.
A single cargo light flickered on.
Then another.
And another.
Suddenly, he was surrounded—dozens of headlights piercing the darkness, engines revving like beasts in chains.
A dozen Syndicate cars boxed him in. Each driver masked, each machine armed. Modified bumpers. Reinforced tires. One even had mounted flamethrowers.
Standing atop a container was Lucien, suit pristine, flanked by Nova.
Axel clenched his fists.
"Where's Jett?" he called out.
Lucien smiled. "Safe… for now. But tonight isn't about him. It's about you."
Nova stepped forward. Her voice was ice.
"You wrecked my car. You shattered my spine. Two years I waited. Let's see how well you really drive."
She climbed into her car—a midnight black Lancia Delta Evo with plasma-blue underglow. The engine screamed as she peeled around to line up beside Axel's Viper.
Lucien raised his hand.
"This is no race," he said. "It's a trial by fire. Win, and your friend walks. Lose…"
He snapped his fingers.
A digital screen flickered to life: Jett, tied up in a chair on a platform above the ocean—explosives blinking beneath him.
"…he sinks."
Axel's pulse roared in his ears.
The race began.
Nova launched first, burning rubber into mist. Axel shot forward, Inferno growling like a demon.
They weaved through tight lanes of cargo crates, skidding at breakneck speeds, inches from death. One wrong move, and it was over.
Nova was ruthless—sideswiping, forcing Axel toward stacked pallets. He countered with surgical precision, drifting between shipping containers at 200km/h.
A drone followed overhead, streaming the chaos live to the Syndicate.
Rhea's voice cracked through the radio.
"Axel—timer's at 03:28. If you're gonna win, do it now."
He gritted his teeth.
They hit a straightaway. Nova pulled ahead.
Then Axel did the unthinkable—he cut right, up a narrow ramp, straight onto a container bridge above the track. He punched the nitrous.
Inferno soared over the gap like a dragon, landing in front of Nova's car with a brutal smash of sparks.
She screamed and slammed into his rear.
But it was too late.
He crossed the finish line.
Just as the timer hit 00:06.
Lucien's smile faltered.
Then a second engine howled through the harbor.
Rhea.
Driving a stolen Syndicate car, she rammed through the gates and crashed into the platform, knocking Jett clear just as the explosives detonated in a plume of seawater and fire.
Aftermath.
The docks burned behind them. Nova's car lay flipped. Lucien vanished in the smoke.
Axel, Rhea, and Jett regrouped, bloodied but alive.
Axel stared at the rising sun.
"This isn't over," he said.
Rhea nodded. "No. It's just starting."