Silent Stardust of the Moon

Chapter 51: D'Arby the Player, Part 2

The cars stayed neck and neck, even at the second curve Kakyoin was able to keep them side by side, and again at the third curve. Joseph kept cheering in the background and Nemuru was honestly pondering how he was related to Jotaro. The older man was so loud and rowdy. With Jotaro, he was stoic and quiet, giving this bad boy aloof aura, he never acted like Joseph at all. Nemuru briefly thought about Hikari's weird taste in men.

"All right! It's the fifth corner! They're back in sync! Look, they're turning in the same speed!" Joseph cheered.

"Damn you, Kakyoin. Damn you!" D'Arby cursed.

"The sixth corner is coming up fast!" Joseph said.

'If I'm not mistaken, the speed tunnel comes right after turn six. If you enter that tunnel you're granted a boost that can double your max speed to 850 km/h. I have to make sure I get to that tunnel!' D'Arby thought.

'But the thing is, the tunnel's only wide enough for one car.' Kakyoin thought, thinking the same thing.

"This isn't good! If they try to enter the tunnel side by side, one of them is gonna crash! It's the sixth turn and they're still neck in neck!" Joseph shouted. D'Arby and Kakyoin's cars rammed into each other, trying to push the other out the way to reach the tunnel first. "There it is! I see the tunnel! Kakyoin, push him out of the way!" Joseph said.

"Haven't you realized it yet, Kakyoin. You don't have the power to push me aside? If you don't believe me, why not glance at your handy-dandy power meter." At D'Arby's words, everyone looked at the screen. Kakyoin's power was a good chunk less than the gaming master. "Kakyoin, you have less power than he does!" Joseph said.

"But how?!" Nemuru asked.

"You've used up your power when you spun around and blocked me back at the beginning of the race. That wasn't the best move on your part. I bet you're regretting that decision now!" D'Arby proclaimed as he gave a giddy smiled as he pressed the excel button and pushed Kakyoin out the way.

"So close. Two seconds till the tunnel." D'Arby says.

"You're gonna crash! You can let this fool have the lead, get behind him to avoid crashing right now!" Joseph said.

"I can't do that! If he makes it to the tunnel first, my chances of winning go to absolute zero." Kakyoin said.

'There's only one way Kakyoin can get into that tunnel. It's risky, but it's the only option he has.' Nemuru thought.

"One second left till victory." D'Arby says. Thinking fast, Kakyoin quickly pressed the control pad and, using the shove from D'Arby's car, he was able to tilt his car upwards and it was able to enter the tunnel at the same time as D'Arby's car driving on the ceiling of the tunnel. "How absurd! You're riding the tunnel walls?!" D'Arby shouted.

'He did it!' Nemuru thought with a smile.

"Yes, you've got this in the bag, Kakyoin! Just hang on a little bit further and victory will be ours! Now push him aside!" Jotaro cheered, pumping his arms. "Quiet, I'm concentrating!" D'Arby yelled. Joseph blinked then laughed, looking at D'Arby. But the laughter stopped when they noticed that D'Arby was slamming against Kakyoin's car. "Watch out, he's slamming you!" Joseph shouts. Kakyoin gritted his teeth as he tried to stay on course.

'It makes no difference to me if I lose some power, my only concern is getting around that turn faster than Kakyoin! Even if it's by a hundredth of a second! Just one-one thousandth of a millimetre ahead!' D'Arby thought in anger. Very soon, the cars enter the shortcut's most dangerous area. When D'Arby and Kakyoin kept driving through the tunnel, they entered the part of the tunnel where the radar went off so they couldn't see the cars in the darkness of the tunnel.