Kitami Jun walked into his bike shop, ready to start another boring day of business. This had become the norm ever since Akio had defeated his rival, Tatsuya Shima, and his car, the Porsche 964 "Blackbird" on the Wangan. He remembered the race as if it were yesterday.

He went to check up on one of his bikes on the maintenance list, when to his surprise, Tatusya Shima entered the shop.

"Shima-san." He said. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, really." Tatsuya said. "I'm still trying to think of why I lost to that Z you've tuned..."

Suddeny, the door to the shop was flung open, and running in was Manuel Vernandez, the American speed master! But even more surprising, was that he was followed closely by a human-sized female anthropomorphic mouse in jeans and a hoodie! And a gaggle of other odds and ends of people, including Akio himself!

"Manuel, Spitfire, wait! You can't just barge in..." Akio said. But it was too late. Kitami Jun and Tatsuya Shima were already looking at both Manuel and Spitfire.

Tatsuya tried to bolt for the phone, but Akio stopped him.

"Relax, she won't hurt you." Akio said. "Trust me."

Manuel then walked up to Kitami.

"Are you Kitami Jun?" Manuel demanded. Kitami was silent for a moment. He then noticed Manuel's eyes were ablaze with a fire that spelled out many things: rage, courage, loyalty, and determination. This was something he saw in very few people.

"...Yeah, why?" Kitami asked, trying to appear unfazed.

"I need your help, Kitami-san." Manuel said. "...I know you probably won't believe everything I... We, tell you, but there's a lot at stake, and you're the only one we can turn to now."

#

A short time later...

"So you're telling me Spitfire's father, and these 'biker mice' have been captured by Kaido Kirafuda, and are being used, along with this terraforming module to bait you into a race?" Tatsuya asked, a skeptical look on his face. "And you only have two weeks to prepare?"

"Yes." Manuel said. "That's why I've come to you." He pointed to Kitami. "I need you to refit my Ford Focus ZX3 for the race. The V8 Cammer in it got me through the speed master competition, but I don't want to take any chances with this Wangan race."

Kitami looked at Manuel with a tired look, leaning close to Manuel's face so they were inches apart. "As strange as your story sounds, I believe you. But let me ask you this: do you have a death wish or something? If you knew my reputation as well as you think you do, I don't play around. Safety is not first on my list. The cars I build and work on are for serious drivers only."

"I am serious!" Manuel replied with irritation.

"Hundreds of other drivers I helped like you said the same thing." Kitami said. "Now they're long gone..."

Spitfire grabbed Kitami by the collar of his shirt, and yanked him towards her face. If Manuel's fiery eyes were intimidating, hers were downright scary.

"Listen, Kitami, and listen closely:" Spitfire said, angry. "If you don't help us, thousands more of my people will die, and it will all be on you! And mark my words, If you don't help us, I'll make sure everyone on this world knows!"

"Spitfire..." Manuel began.

"Don't say anything, Manuel!" Spitfire snapped, her gaze not leaving Kitami's. "As I told Bunta, There's more at stake than just a racing title this time. So are you in or not?"

There was silence.

"Just one more question:" Kitami asked, looking over to Manuel. "Do you ever fear you will die whenever you drive?"

Manuel looked puzzled for a moment. He looked outside to his Focus, and answered:

"Honestly, I never know." Manuel said. "But I always expect it. Ever since my older brother died in an accident in his last race, I've feared it. I wasn't even sure I would survive the Speed Master competition..."

"Then that settles it. I'll see what I can do with your Focus." Kitami interrupted. "If things are as dire as your friend here claims, then I had better get started asap. However, we'll need to get the body reinforced and refitted to withstand the power of my engine mods. Luckily, I know just the guy to help."

Body Shop Sunday

45 minutes later...

Yuichi Takagi sat behind his desk, staring out the window. Things were going well for the body shop, despite things being slow.

He yawned. He wondered how Akio was. He remembered working on his Z, reinforcing the body to withstand 320 KM/H. He also remembered working on Tatsuya's Blackbird, reducing the weight of the body with Carbon fiber body panels.

One of his workers then walked through the door. "Sir, Kitami-san is outside. I believe we have a customer."

Takagi looked curious. "Is it the Devil Z or the Blackbird?" He asked.

The answer surprised him. "No. Believe it or not, it's Manuel Vernandez. The new Speed Master."