The streets were still wet from the sudden evening rain, reflecting the neon glow like a thousand shattered mirrors. The roar of engines echoed through the city's industrial quarter, where the Underground Kings had gathered for the most dangerous race of the season.
Kelvin leaned against his matte-black GT-R, hood up, eyes locked on the starting line. His knuckles were still sore from last night's fight, but the pain only sharpened his focus. Across from him, Viper smirked, his scar catching the light like a fresh wound.
"You're late," Viper taunted."You're still breathing," Kelvin replied, calm but venomous. "Guess I'll fix that tonight."
The race wasn't just for pride—there was money on the line, enough to buy freedom for everyone on Kelvin's crew. But Viper had stacked the game: two assassins hidden in the crowd, a rigged drone to track Kelvin's car, and word on the street was that his men had planted something nasty along the route.
The flag girl raised her arm. Engines screamed.
BANG!
The cars shot forward like bullets from the same gun. Kelvin's GT-R snarled through first and second gear, tires slicing water into vapor. Adrenaline surged as he threaded between an oil tanker and a rusted fence.
Then—BOOM!—the road behind him erupted. The shockwave slapped his rear bumper, sending the GT-R fishtailing. Through the rearview mirror, Kelvin saw flames and debris—and two cars swallowed whole.
"Trap confirmed," Sera's voice crackled over comms. "Viper's playing dirty."Kelvin gritted his teeth. "Then we play smarter."
The race tore into the port district, where shipping containers loomed like silent sentinels. Kelvin cut hard into an alley, scraping inches from steel walls, using the tight space to shake the tracking drone. Ahead, the route split: left into a straight highway, right into an unlit service tunnel.
He took the tunnel.
Inside, darkness devoured the light. The only sounds were the thunder of his engine and the echo of his own heartbeat. Something flickered in his headlights—a figure standing in the middle of the tunnel, holding a metal pipe.
Kelvin didn't brake.
The GT-R roared straight through, the figure leaping aside at the last second. But Kelvin caught the man's eyes—a flash of recognition. It was someone from his past.
Someone he thought was dead.