Daynight Racer (Completed)

Epilogue

Four Years Later

"No, no, Bree. Keep your throttle steady and smooth," said Lyst as she held up her hands to visualise the footwork while exiting a corner. "Or else you'll lose control of the rear and slide around. That is not good in terms of speed."

Bree gave a terse nod, giving her full attention to her driving. "Alright, I'll try again."

For the past four years, the relationship between Lyst and Bree had grown close. Lyst had witnessed Bree grow from a child with a dream of racing cars into a fine young lady, determined to achieve that dream. Bree had just passed her driving test and received her licence, and just like how Andrew once coached Lyst to race, it was time for Lyst to do the same for Bree.

One thing that Lyst noticed was how quick of a learner Bree was. She had raw driving talent, and was eager to learn. That made her an extremely lovable student. To be honest, when Lyst looked at Bree behind the wheel of Obsidian, she saw a younger, more feisty version of herself, and she couldn't help but be hit by a wave of nostalgia and love.

Charging along the straight, the corner was approaching soon. Bree slammed on the brakes, stomped on the clutch, blipped the throttle while moving from fourth to third gear, before engaging the clutch again and easing off the brakes. The next thing Lyst knew, Bree was carrying her through the bend and onto the next stretch of straight road without any wheelspin.

"How was that?"

Lyst blew out a breath, amazed by Bree's precision of her rev-matching and the smoothness of her inputs. "It was perfect," she breathed.

Looking up, the various colours of twilight had creeped their way onto the sky. Lyst decided that it would be a good time to end Bree's training for the day. Besides, there was a Streetless Street Racing event later on in the night, and she wouldn't want to be late for it.

"Come on," prompted Lyst. "Let's head to dinner, shall we? Then we'll go to the street race."

"Okay!"

***

The Streetless Street Racing Club started off with the local street racing community getting together and redefining the term 'street racing'. But four years on, it has gained quite a lot of attention. Car enthusiasts and motorsport fans from around the country, or even from foreign lands, came to check out each others' cars, and to enjoy pure racing action. Due to the legality and safety of 'street' racing, it no longer attracted unwanted negative attention from the police, so there's a lot more freedom in terms of what can be done during the events, and to what extent. And frankly, Lyst had witnessed some fantastic moments because of that, from her time as chairperson of the club. Nonetheless, at its core, the essence of the classic street racing that she knew and loved still remained as strong as ever.

Watching Bree racing against another driver, Lyst couldn't help but feel proud of the character she had blossomed into. Despite not winning her first few street races, people were quick to discover that she was a force to be reckoned with. Ever since then, she had been constantly improving, and now she was comfortably in the lead of the race, driving phenomenally. Lyst was certain that once she gets a car of her own, she's going to be unbeatable.

Speaking of unbeatable...

"Lyst? Is that you?"

"Ember?"

It all happened too quickly, and the next thing Lyst knew, she couldn't move, squeezed tight within the embrace of her friend whom she hadn't seen in years. "Long time no see," she managed to mutter.

Ember let go from the hug. "It's so good to see you again!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "It's been what... four and a half years since we last spoke?"

"Around there," Lyst confirmed. "Come on, let's play catch up."

It was a pretty good chat between the two former Formula 3 drivers. Lyst shared about what she had been up to since she left the series, and Ember seemed delighted to hear what she had accomplished.

As for Ember, after she joined the newly formed FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2018, she struggled quite a lot due to bad team management, but after a change of teams leading into her third season, she became a dominant force in the series. Then, she moved onto Formula 2 in 2021 and led the championship, until suddenly Haas F1 team phoned her and offered her to drive in Formula 1 in the same year. Much to Lyst's amazement, she had already won a Grand Prix, and was now safely into her second year in the pinnacle of motorsport. Accompanying her in her journey was her teammate and lover, Mick Schumacher.

"Aww, that's sweet," commented Lyst.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" agreed Ember. "Now, when are you finally going to give in to romance, Lyst?"

Lyst shrugged. "I still don't know," she admitted. "Only time will tell, I guess."

Suddenly, Ashley materialised from nowhere and chimed in, a cheeky grin on her face. "Hey Lyst! Some egotistic complacent dude thinks he can beat you!"

Lyst raised an eyebrow, blowing out a chuckle while she was at it. "Is it who I think it is?"

***

Pulling up to the start-finish line and seeing a green Aston Martin already there, Lyst's suspicions were confirmed.

"Hey, grid girl," drawled Logan, a smug grin on his face. "Ready to race again?"

"Damn, Logan," Lyst remarked. "You're as pesky as I remember you to be."

"Time to see if I'm as good as you remember me to be."

Lyst rolled up her windows, and then her eyes. She shifted her focus back onto her car and the road ahead. I beat him once, I beat him twice, I'm not gonna let him get me now, she said to herself.

It was as if nothing had changed. A dark purple BMW racing against a green Aston Martin. Once upon a time, it marked a start for a new chapter of Lyst's life. And maybe this time, the same would happen again.

Only time would tell.

Lindsay walked onto the track, holding her chequered flag, which at this point, had become sort of an icon. Once she confirmed both drivers were ready to race, the countdown began.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let the race begin!"

The End

This.
Is.
It.

After many months of planning, typing, backspacing and repeating, it's finally finished! And I'm so proud of it!!

For the last time... Roll the questions!!

1. What's your favourite part of this story?

2. Any more questions you would like me to address for the QnA?

QnA's gonna be up when the questions come in. See you there!

~Jaye