Vinyl Tracks

It was the perfect day. Weather was clear, roads were dry, and not a single other car in sight. He pushed the old formula one out of the garage. Several thousand dollars and weeks of work was put into rebuilding the racer. It was a bright red with gold stripes and navy blue accents. He strapped on his racing helmet and climbed into the vehicle. He punched the ignition and waited as the engine turned over and came alive with a roar.

One last check for any traffic. Right? Clear. Left? Clear. He dropped the clutch, and the transmission hit first.

Go.

He pulled out of the driveway and tore down the road, quickly climbing gears.

The thing he loved about the open country was the miles of road, and very little traffic. And most of all, no cops to put a damper on his adrenaline.

He pushed the limit of the craft, approaching three hundred and fifty kilometers an hour.

He reached the end of the road he was on and slowed to a stop. He turned onto a little known stretch of pavement and took a deep breath. This was it. A twenty five mile stretch of road before it began to wind through the local forest.

Before he could take off, he became acutely aware of a rumbling in the distance. The fuzz couldn't have gotten here already, have they?

Before he could turn to check, the rumbling turned to a roar as another car screamed past. Stark white with blue striped and violet accents blurred as it tore past him.

He sat there stunned before grinning under the helmet. So they wanted a challenge? They'll get one.  After all, he put nearly a year of work into the car. We wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to show it off.

Like a bullet he was off, the scream of the engine filling his ears as he powered up the gears. He pulled up behind the unknown challenger's car, ready to overtake them. He pushed ahead to the side of the opponent, only to drop speed to avoid a collision as they moved to block him. He tried again on the other side only to achieve the same result. He tried bouncing between sides of the road, trying to get them to give him an opening.

This horseplay continued for another couple miles until he feinted a pass. He started moving forward on the right side of them. As the enemy moved to counter and he bounced to the other side and pulled ahead.

And time froze as he got his first look at his opponent. Stark white fur covered her face, a two toned blue mane held back and down in a pony tail. a unicorn horn curled out of her forehead and violet shades covered her eyes.

He kept going stunned. He wasn't able to properly process this information as the two competitors suddenly found themselves in the forest.

Both racers dropped gears as they hit the first turn. The pony(?) pulling ahead as he hit the brakes too early, loosing valuable speed and rubber.

He fought for a pass attempt in the first straight, every time he moved forward she moved to counter. He slipped ahead of her as she fishtailed and fought for traction out of the second corner. He blocked as she attempted a pass in the second straight.

He hit a puddle into the third turn and nearly spun out as she pulled ahead and out of view as he skid to a stop.

He knew they were going to run out of track eventually, the road turning to a hiking trail further ahead.

He punched the gas, pushing it to get sight of his opponent again, but only catching glimpses of her as she hit the turns ahead of him. He kept pushing the envelope trying to catch up after his spin out.

Slowly he inched closer until he was again stuck behind her. He pushed in another attempt to block, but she moved to counter. He tried the other side. Same.

They hit a tight curve, both dropping speed dramatically. He took the advantage and pressed ahead as she was recentering herself. They pressed closer together as she was caught off guard with the attempt. The cars bumped each other, trading paint. she cut speed to avoid a wipe out, dropping to just behind her. he cursed as his new paint job was marred, but he knew it was part of the risks

Time was running out, the end pressing closer. He swerved to block a pass attempt by her, the cars nearly trading paint again. This continued out of the next turn. She got him with the same trick he got her with earlier. Feinting a pass, then pushing ahead as he moved to block the feint.

He tried to push forward again, but she remained steady, denying any attempt to pass her. He managed to pull ahead as they hit a turn. He panicked and hit the brakes to avoid another spin out. He recovered in time to see his opponent disappear around the second to  last corner. Swearing, he punched it, storming up the gears one last time.

He pushed hard as he could, but as he passed the warning sigh, he had to slow down to avoid the pylons blocking the trail from vehicles just around the last turn.

Finally, he hit the end or the road, with his opponent nowhere to be seen. In confusion, he cut the engine climbing out. Where did she go? it wasn't like she could take a formula one off road through a forest. Yet here he was, after chasing a strange opposition through the woods, they disappeared like a ghost at the end of the run.

Then, a glimpse of white caught his eye. Something propped against the poles cutting off vehicles from the trail.

He picked up a stuffed plush. The visage of his competitor earlier. Same stark white fur, two toned blue mane, and signature violet sunglasses, staring Blankly at him.

He spied a tag on the collar.

Vinyl Scratch