Spitfire still was in disbelief of what Manuel had just done. Not only had he had the nerve to grab her arm, but the way he had spoken she didn't like either.

"Well, what's going on? Has something happened? Spit it out already!" Manuel snapped.

She didn't get the chance. Lights shined in through the shop's windows. Next, there was the sound of shattering glass and gunfire. Everyone dove into cover, Manuel tackling Spitfire to the floor, shielding her with his own body as bullets riddled through the tofu shop's broken windows, perforating the walls. Dust hung in the air as glass shattered around them from the food displays where Bunta stored the fried tofu when it was ready to sell. Spitfire closed her eyes tightly as the typhoon of bullets went through the shop. It seemed it would last for eternity, but it stopped after two agonizing minutes.

Manuel looked over his shoulder out the broken front window of the tofu shop. He saw a bunch of thugs with sub-machine guns speed off in a van, but not before one of them threw a cd case through the broken window. It landed right next to Manuel and Spitfire. Manuel saw the words "ransom for the speed master's allies" written in marker on the case.

"Is everyone alright?" Bunta asked after the thugs drove off.

"Yes." Everyone said, still shaken.

"Thank god. I'm calling the police! What the hell was that all about?!" Bunta snapped, as everyone got out of cover. He went through the shop to the phone. Shards of glass and sheet rock were everywhere. "My shop! Look at this goddamn mess!" Bunta fumed as he picked up the phone's receiver, dialing the number.

Manuel got off of Spitfire, wincing as he felt a pain emanating from his arm. He had been grazed by one of the stray bullets! Spitfire noticed the wound as well!

"Oh, no! You're been hit..." She said, breathless.

"Yeah, I noticed." Manuel replied, picking up the cd case as if he wasn't phased. It had a disc inside. A DVD. He turned to the group. "We'd better go upstairs. The police will be here any minute, and I highly doubt they will react calmly to seeing Spitfire. The thugs also left us this DVD. I think we should see what's on it."

"Let's do that after the police get here and do their job." Takumi said. "I'll tell dad to meet us upstairs, too." The group nodded in agreement.

A few hours later...

Takumi's Bedroom, upstairs level of Fujiwara Tofu...

Most of the police had just left. Takumi popped the DVD into his computer's disc drive. The drive whirred and clicked. The group gathered around him as the DVD playing software came up on the screen. There was a beep, and the video status said "ready."

"Play it." Manuel said.

Takumi moved the cursor over the play button using the mouse and clicked. The Linux Mint desktop disappeared on the screen as the video player went to full screen mode. At first, there was nothing but snow. Then, a face popped up.

It was Kaido Kirafuda, the father of Manuel's rival, Yuya Kirafuda. It looked like he was at some sort of warehouse.

"Greetings, Manuel, so-called speed master." He said, voice cold as frozen steel. "I believe you've taken something that I want back. My legacy. So I'll get straight to the point."

Kaido pointed to the area behind him. The camera moved from Kaido's perspective to view that area. It was dark. Then, lights came on, revealing a sickening sight.

Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, and Stoker stood chained up in a barred cage. From what they could see, they had been beaten and tortured. They had burns and cuts all over them, and Throttle didn't have his specs, which meant he couldn't see! There was also a strange device in the camera's sights.

"I want a shot at you myself." Kaido explained. "We'll have an outrun contest. The rules are simple. Whoever can outrun the other to the vanishing point wins. If you blow your engine, or have any other type of malfunction that prevents you from racing, you automatically lose. I've setup the race site. We will have mobile cameras on the Wangan. It will broadcast our race across the internet. It' s time to see who's truly the fastest. If you win, you get your precious friends back. If you lose, I get your car, which I so look forward to tearing up piece by piece. Oh, and if you don't show up... Well... They'll all be put to sleep." Kaido got out a syringe, no one needed to be told what was in it! They already had a good enough idea. "Oh, I also forgot to mention, I have their precious terraforming device too! So if you don't race me, I'll destroy that as well! Which will doom the rodent race to extinction if the escaped female hasn't told you already! You have two weeks to prepare, so take this as a warning not to waste your time!"

He snapped his fingers, and the next moment, an electric current was running through the cage! The biker mice could not suppress the screams of pain from the voltage being pumped through the cage and into their battered bodies!

Spitfire's spirit broke right then and there. She buried her face in Manuel's chest, crying.

Manuel held her close, unable to take his eyes off the video feed! His face twisted in rage, and disgust! He could not believe Kaido had went this low!

Akio and Reina were also in shock! Reina had never witnessed such cruelty in her life, nor had Akio! Kaido had clearly gone mad with vengeance!

Kaido snapped his fingers again, and the current stopped. The mice were left trying to catch their breaths.

"Remember, two weeks from now on the Wangan, Vernandez!!" Kaido snarled. With that, the video cut.

Everyone was silent. Takumi's room was as quiet as a graveyard. Then, Itsuki spoke up.

"...Manuel, what are you going to do?!" He asked.

Manuel responded after a few painstaking seconds. "I'm gonna kick his ass and break his legs." He said, his voice filled with rage.

"But we don't even know what he'll be driving! We all know that Kirafuda plays dirty! How can we expect to win this time around?!" Iketani debated.

Bunta sighed. "I know what he's going to drive. He'll use his old Countach from when he ran in the speed master competition. That old fossil is something he takes too much pride in. He won't be able to resist showing it off. It has power too, even though it's a fossil of a super car: It has a Quattro-vavle V12."

"A V12?!" Takumi exclaimed. "How can he beat that...?"

"I'll find a way." Manuel said bitterly.

Itsuki looked up at Manuel. "How?! How in the hell are you going to beat a Quattro-valve V12?! It's a bigger, and better engine! It produces more power than even your V8 Cammer! How are you going to beat it?!'"

Manuel went over to the window, looking out through the closed blinds as the sun began to rise. His next sentence shocked everyone.

"Akio, take me to see Kitami." Manuel's eyes narrowed as he turned and looked at Akio in the eye. "I'm going to make a deal with the Devil."