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Chapter Text

It was a pretty cold afternoon in Daytona Beach. The unforgiving February air bit at the skin of anyone unfortunate enough to be outside for more than a few minutes. Yet, crowds of people by the hundreds were lining up just outside Daytona International Speedway, waiting to enter in spite of the cold weather.

Inside the 2.5 mile oval track, haulers of all shapes and sizes were parked side to side in the garage area, crews of several teams going around and getting ready for the start of a new racing season, unloading the cars, setting up the pit boxes, etc.

In the grandstands, thousands of fans were already beginning to pile in. Sure, the track was quiet now, but in just a few moments it would come alive with the sound of 43 fire breathing cars using it as their playground. And the queen of this playground was none other than a young worker drone named Uzi Doorman, though her appearance gave little indication that she had dedicated her career to one of the most redneck sports in the world. She had broad shoulders, wide hips and short purple hair, the same color as her eyes.

Now, Uzi had actually been racing since she was in elementary school, having started out racing Legends cars when she was 12. One major influence on her decision to pursue racing was her mother. Nori Doorman raced back in the 80s, being the first female drone to do so. In fact she had always been there supporting her daughter throughout her career so far.

Uzi didn’t take too long in rising up in the ranks. By the time she was 18, she had already won 3 back to back to back USCAR Junior Pro Championships and racked up 27 wins and numerous top 5’s and top 10’s, eventually skyrocketing to the Cup Series four years ago. With that kind of momentum, it wasn’t too surprising that Uzi saw herself as a big deal, which did make her hard to work with. The only things that really mattered to her were winning and the perks that came with it. Just last year she had fired 3 crew chiefs, deep seated in the belief that she didn’t need anyone.

Currently, Uzi was leaning against her four wheeled throne: her trusty stock car. It was painted in a dark metallic purple with bright orange flames going up the front, hood, roof and sides. The number 46 was on the doors and roof, and the logos for Royal Purple front and center on the hood, rear quarter panels, rear TV panel and deck lid, and under the left headlight sticker was the logo for the team she raced for: Bandit Racing. This machine was her faithful companion since she moved up to the Cup Series, assisting in her drive to become the best driver in the world. Uzi was leaning against the hood and looking around the garage area, seeing if she recognized anyone from last year.

There was Lizzy Molina, who drove the #9 car for Speeding Saddles. Her car was a painfully bright rainbow of reds and pinks and was laden with logos for her new sponsor: Prime Hydration Drink. Lizzy was sitting near her car and taking a selfie. Uzi rolled her eyes in annoyance, Lizzy always seemed to lean more towards being a cringe influencer than actually racing. Prime didn’t even taste good anyway.

Then there was Doll Ski. A driver who hailed all the way from Russia, she drove the #87 for Redline Motorsports, one of the more prestigious teams in the sport. Her car was a flat black with several 8-bit patterns going down the sides and logos for GameStop all over it. Doll was never the most vocal out of the other drivers, but she was pretty rough on the track. In her rookie season she intentionally caused 3 wrecks, cementing her as someone to approach with caution.

And then there was Thad Anderson, who drove the #33 for his family’s team, Anderson Family Racing. His car was painted in bright red and yellow with logos for McDonald’s all over it. Uzi always enjoyed being around Thad. She was one of the few people who talked to her on a regular basis, whether it was between practice sessions or before a race, they always seemed to have something to chat about or jokes to share with each other.

She was about to get up and walk out of her garage until she ended up nearly crashing into someone. She stumbled and spun around to face the bozo who nearly knocked her over.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, dumbass!” She snapped, getting a good look at her assailant. She couldn’t gather too many details, but she could tell he was a Disassembly Drone, probably around her age but taller than her, with yellow eyes and silver messy hair. He had on a white and pale yellow firesuit, a contrast to Uzi’s dark purple and orange one, with the logo for JCJenson going across the front in a diagonal direction.

“S-sorry…” the drone said awkwardly. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking. I got waaaay too caught up in a conversation with Tessa and I was trying to find my garage and-”

“Sounds about right for her. I hear endlessly about how much of a chatterbox she is.” Uzi responded coldly. “So…are you JCJenson’s new driver! I’ve never seen you before.”

“Oh, yeah! I’m Nathan. Nathan Elliot. But I just go by N most of the time.” He responded cheerily.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I have a race to win.” Uzi interjected. She walked off before adding. “Good luck, you’re gonna need it.”

N said something, but Uzi didn’t hear it as she went behind the big stage where driver introductions take place. All the other drivers were already there, bunched up with each other. If Uzi were to describe how it felt, she’d compare it to being stuck in sardine can, barely getting any room to breathe.

Before she knew it, most of the top 10 went out onstage. This was basic procedure for driver introductions, starting from the pole position and ending at the rear. Uzi was soon next in line as she was starting 8th. She stood at the steps and waited for her cue as the track went quiet.

Over the loudspeakers, she could hear the beginning of a Poison song and the announcer building up hype for her. “Starting 8th, from Eagle Rock, California and still having nothin’ but a good time, driver of the #46 Royal Purple car…the Oval Queen herself, 3-time USCAR Junior Pro Series Champion, Uzi Doorman!”

Uzi practically sprinted through the curtains and onto the stage as the song’s chorus hit. She slid across the surface air strumming like a wannabe rockstar as fans near the stage cheered. All the attention was another thing Uzi absolutely loved. She took photos with a few fans and signed a few autographs as she walked across the stage and down the steps, making her way to her car. Knowing she had a fair amount of time before the command to start engines, Uzi sat on her hood and looked around.

In the sea of multicolored stock cars, Uzi caught sight of N’s car. The paint job itself was pretty basic looking, being a two tone white and yellow design. The number 71 was on the doors and roof and JCJenson’s logo taking up the hood, sides and rear. Also plastered in different places were a bunch of other brands Uzi couldn’t read from her spot.

Across from N’s car was one with the same paint job and logos but with a #2 instead of 71. Standing near it was a female disassembly drone with the same firesuit, hair color and eye color as N, but her hair was styled in a bob cut. Perhaps she was his teammate.

Soon enough, all the drivers climbed into their cars and put their helmets on as the words Uzi knew all too well rang out.

“Drivers, start your engines!”

Within moments, the sound of 43 900 horsepower race engines filled the air as the pace laps began. This was it, the first race of a new season.

The moment the green flag flew, it was on. Uzi drove with her trademark ferocity and aggressiveness, a testament to show that whoever wanted to win had to get through her.

The first few laps were pretty uneventful. A few cars in the back wrecked out on lap 50 trying to battle for position, bringing out the first caution of the day.

Even though Uzi had no crew chief, she had a really reliable pit crew (even if she can’t remember their names at times). They were able to change all four tires and refuel the car in no time flat. This is why these guys are the best. Uzi thinks to herself as she pulls out of pit road in 12th.

By lap 128, the Big One has broken out on the backstretch, caused by, to no surprise, Doll. The red flag was thrown immediately as the race stopped, the safety crew coming out to clean up the mess.

Looking around from inside her car, Uzi could see that N had somehow made it through the wreck, even though his car was banged up pretty rough. She was genuinely surprised that a rookie of all people made it past all that mess.

The debris was cleaned up after a half hour and the race resumed on lap 132. Now Uzi was driving for real. There was only 68 laps left and she didn’t plan on wasting any of them. She managed to move up 6 whole positions, making it to 4th. And N was 3 places behind her in 7th.

By 2 laps to go, Uzi was fighting hard with the top 3, searching for any opening she could find. Near the end of the race was always stressful to her, because anything could happen here. Another caution could come out, her tire could burst, her engine could give out…just too many possibilities, so little time.

Thankfully, on the final lap, Uzi found a way to pass one of the cars and made it to 3rd just as the checkered flag came out. Uzi let out a laugh that was more of pent up anxiety than relief. As she and the other drivers rolled back down pit road, she caught sight of the driver who won, Billy Ray Bergen, doing burnouts in the infield.

Getting to her garage, Uzi climbed out of her car and removed her helmet. She was exhausted, sweat dripping down her forehead as she grabbed a nearby water bottle and took a sip.

“Hey, Uzi!” A voice called out. Uzi turned around to find N walking up to her. “What do you want, rookie?” She asked.

“I just wanted to thank you for giving me a good race! I was a mechanic for Team JCJenson for a while, and I have seen you race the last 2 years, and you’re extremely talented!” N said, a big dumb smile crossing his face.

Uzi would never admit this out loud, but her first thought was that someone this annoying shouldn’t be this cute.

“Shut up, dork. I’m not here to be a wish fulfillment for some grease monkey who lucked their way into a professional ride. Just go…do whatever it was you were doing. I gotta get my car on the trailer.” And for the second time, Uzi walked off. Thankfully this time, Uzi didn’t hear N try to talk again.

Going to stand next to her trailer, Uzi pulled out her phone and began scrolling through Facebook. Or she tried to until another, somehow more annoying person came up to her.

“Sup, freak?” came the voice of Lizzy, it sounding like knives shooting into Uzi’s ears.

“What do you want now, Lizzy?” Uzi groans.

“Not up to your best today, huh? Didn’t know you were handing out better performance to everyone. Or is it only the cute ones?” Lizzy remarks, laughing.

“It was nothing, he just had a lucky break. Next week will be different.” Uzi replied.

“Whatever.” Lizzy shrugged and began walking away. “Good luck convincing yourself you’re hot shit because your mommy is super famous or something.”

“Yeah, well good luck convincing yourself you’re not just Logan Paul’s corporate bitch!” Uzi yells, Lizzy not even hearing. Leaning against her trailer’s walls, Uzi groaned as she rubbed her temples. This was only the first weekend of the season and she already had a headache. It didn’t help that two annoying people were on her ass now.

No time to dwell on it, though. As soon as the car and everything else was loaded up, Uzi walked down to her motorhome and climbed in to begin the trip to the next venue.

Near Team JCJenson’s motorhome, N walked up to it nervously. He knew he didn’t do too good. But it was his first real race, hopefully he wouldn’t get too much scorn…

Inside, his teammate and younger sibling Valerie (or just V) was sitting on one of the couches filing down her nails. “Hey.” She said, not looking up.

“Hey, V…you saw how I did today, right?” N asks nervously.

“Yeah. You came in 17th.” Another voice answered.

Sitting in the passenger seat was the team manager, as well as assistant manager of JCJenson, Jade (or just J). Currently she was nursing a glass of wine, which looked to have most of her attention.

J was more professionally dressed than N and V, wearing a black tuxedo dress with a yellow undershirt and black tie, her silver hair styled up in pigtails. For reasons N didn’t know, she always had a smug look on her face that screamed ‘I’m better than everyone else’.

N sheepishly approached her before he spoke again. “So…I did okay, right?”

“You did.” J answered, glancing over at N before turning her attention back to her wine glass. “If your definition of ‘okay’ is mediocre. Really N, you need to fix your performance out there.”

“B-but, J…it was only my first real race and-” N began before J rudely cut him off.

“I don’t want your excuses, N, I want results.” J said in mild disgust. “I can’t believe the boss even wanted to give you a chance. If the company would let me, I’d fire you myself.”

N was struggling to stay calm. He knew J didn’t care about how it looked for her, just the company. “I-I’m sorry…it won’t happen again.”

“It better not.” J replied as N went to sit across from V as the motorhome began moving. “Don’t let J get to ya, N. You can be a great driver if you really put your head in the game. Maybe not as good as me, though.” V pipes up.

“Thanks, V…” N mutters, J’s criticism still ringing in his mind.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks were a blur for Uzi. Between traveling, practice and events, she couldn’t get what happened at Daytona out of her head. When she said she planned to dominate all the way to the championship, she…didn’t really plan on saying it. She was still coming down from the adrenaline high, and now because of her big mouth she had to train harder than she had before.

Her pit crew and especially her team owner could see the signs of burnout growing in her and asked if she was maybe push in herself too much, but Uzi merely brushed them off. She knew her hard work was paying off, she pulled in a few wins, some top 5’s and a lot of laps led, cementing herself as an early contender for that year’s championship.

That bold statement and her current hot streak did help bolster Bandit Racing’s name in the media. The story of a 25-year-old driver kicking all the butts on the track and blazing a path to her first championship was definitely a compelling one, and Uzi’s name was being brought up way more in motorsports discussions. Even people who weren’t into racing were admiring her determination and the fact she wasn’t all talk.

To her irritation, though, she found herself having to share the spotlight with N, who had been making a rather big name for himself since the start of the season. In fact, people are starting to view him as a championship contender in spite of the fact that he was only a rookie. It felt to Uzi like N was always behind her, waiting to strike the moment she slipped up.

Yet she couldn’t for the life of her understand what N’s deal was. He tried talking to her at Daytona, but why? Was he trying to learn all her tricks? Was he trying to get on her good side all for the attention? There had to be some kind of angle behind that kind demeanor. Thankfully, she was able to keep her guard up well because whatever N had originally planned, he had yet to approach her again.

Truthfully, Uzi hadn’t really spoken to too many people outside of work-related conversations. Every season was mostly spent on the road, meaning she didn’t have the time to visit her parents. She didn’t have any siblings, either, so she always felt alone in some form.

So that was the situation she was currently in by the end of March. A good few days between going to the next track and practice for the next race. Naturally she’d spent the most of it training, but after that she needed some form of a break. She didn’t plan on spending her free time alone, so she called up one of the few people willing to hang out with her: Thad.

Uzi had long since fallen out of contact with most of the people she went to high school with. Even those who, by sheer coincidence, happened to get jobs in the same career as her, like Rebecca and Darren, who became reporters for ESPN, became complete strangers to her (It didn’t help much that Uzi still held a particular grudge against Rebecca for having stood her up at junior prom).

But Thad was different. They had known each other since 4th grade (it helped that their parents happened to be good friends), and their relationship was never just meeting at school for a few hours every day. Instead, they found themselves meeting up at racing events, mostly during the years Uzi’s mom was still competing. There, they became even closer friends as they spent so many weekends at speedways having fun.

When Thad began racing go karts in his freshman year of middle school, Uzi was the first one he told. And when Uzi finally made the jump to professional racing, her first reaction was to call Thad to tell him the good news. After so many years of watching and dreaming about driving on those tracks, they were gonna be race car drivers together!

The two managed to keep up a friendly rivalry when they hit the track, but that was mostly where it stayed. Thad was one of a handful of people she hadn’t alienated to pursue her career, and she had no plans to change that. Thad was the only person she felt comfortable letting her guard down around, and she had the hunch the feeling was mutual. Unfortunately, they both had really busy schedules so they almost never had time to hang out, which made Uzi more than happy to met up with him when the opportunity presented itself.

So that Saturday morning, she grabbed a coffee and climbed into her Jeep, hoping the caffeine would get her through the long drive. She did make the mistake of not eating breakfast first, though, and the only place near the bookstore she and Thad planned to go to was a Carl’s Jr.

At least they made good breakfast sandwiches.

Thad arrived not long after she finished eating. She didn’t even realize it was him parking next to her, his rental car was completely different from the red Ford Mustang he had back home. She paid the car no mind until she saw her friend step out. He was only slightly taller than Uzi, his thick and messy blond hair fell in front of his face no matter how much he pushed it back. A small scar grazed his right cheek, the result of a skateboarding accident from 6th grade.

“Hey, Uz.” Thad said as he came in. “How have you been? I feel like we haven’t gotten a chance to talk since the season started!”

“Yeah, sorry Thad. I was so busy the past few weeks I barely had any downtime.” Uzi said, giving him a small smile. “Good to see you again, though.”

Thad grinned in response. “Yeah, we have a lot to catch up on! Things have been a little crazy on my end, too.”

“I just saw you show up in a Civic, Thad. I don’t think anything could be more surprising than that.” Uzi smirked.

“Hey, it isn’t that weird! Despite what you think, they’re very comfortable to drive, and…” Thad went into a really long winded defense of his car choice that Uzi couldn’t help but laugh at. She was only trying to rob him gently, not strike a nerve, but it seemed like he had fully rehearsed this defense.

The two eventually fell into a few hours of looking around the bookstore, Uzi mostly walking around the manga section. Thad, meanwhile, had found a book about dinosaurs and seemed very engrossed in the pages, almost a little…too engrossed. “Okay, dino boy, let’s go.” Uzi said as they both left the aisle Thad found the book in.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by as the early afternoon sun soaked the two in a pleasant warmth. It wasn’t until they spotted, or rather smelled, a nearby grill that Uzi realizes how hungry she was. They stopped for lunch, and Thad, wanting to keep the conversation going, started talking about his practice last week.

“…And then it started raining out of nowhere!” Thad exclaimed. “Not even Shane could keep his car straight.”

“Shane?” Uzi asked, suddenly very intrigued. “Like Shane Mackie? You were in the same practice session as him?”

“Yeah.” Thad said. “I usually see him around the track from time to time. We’ve actually started talking a lot lately.”

“Oh yeah! About what?” Uzi asked. Most of the stuff she’s heard about Shane has been good. The guy apparently won 5 USCAR Championships, which did make him a big deal, so she was interested to learn more.

“Well, it all started a few months ago during race weekend at North Carolina. After the event ended, he came up to me and said he was really impressed, and that my dad did a great job teaching me. We ended up talking for a long time before he had to head back to his motorhome. But he did give me his contact information and said if I ever needed anything, to get in touch.”

“And I assume you did?” Uzi asks.

“Yeah, I usually do whenever I have the time.” Thad replied. “Anyway, I wanna ask something about you…what’s up with you and that N guy?”

Uzi nearly choked on her own spit upon hearing that. “Wh-what do you mean by that?!”

“Hey, it’s nothing bad, I just wanna know since…you seemed a little heated around him back in Daytona.” Thad said.

“Ugh, don’t remind me of him…” Uzi grumbled. “He literally came up to me after the race, acting all nice for some reason. Something about that rubbed me the wrong way.”

“I don’t know. I have spoken to him a few times, and that niceness isn’t a facade, it’s really how he is. He’s even mentioned you once or twice.” Thad said.

“He’s…talked about me?” Uzi asked.

“Yeah, he’s gushed a lot about your driving. ‘The daughter of the legendary Nori Doorman, in only her third year and already just as good as her mom in her prime.’” He mimicked N, with starry eyes and a grand gesture, before dropping the act and continuing. “That night he tried to walk up to you and you brushed him off, he thought something was wrong with you.”

“It…it’s not that. I may have just overreacted…I’m not used to making new friends…” Uzi muttered.

“Yeah, I get that.” Thad replied. “But just…try to give him more of a chance next time, okay?”

“Okay…” Uzi said reluctantly.

That Sunday had already been a busy day for Uzi, with photoshoots and qualifications, when the official event was set to begin. This track was a new one this year: the Foxboro Thunderdome in Massachusetts, having been constructed last year. This was USCAR’s first indoor oval track from what she had heard.

The race itself could only be described as a huge spectacle not seen often in racing. One feature the new track had was higher banking than a normal oval track. Some of the drivers weren’t used to it which led to a lot of spin outs and wrecks.

At one point midway through, Lizzy got into a fight with another driver who claimed she spun him. Uzi couldn’t bother to care what that dumb brat was yelling about as she kept driving.

To her frustration, N was somehow giving her even more competition than the past few weeks. Yet against all those odds, Uzi held him off the rest of the way and actually won, her third win this season.

As the excitement set in, Uzi couldn’t help but celebrate in the only way she can: putting on a show for her fans. Sliding into the infield, she immediately did a few donuts in the grass before climbing out of the car and jumping onto the roof, throwing her arms into the air. As soon as she driver the car into Victory Lane, she was presented with a trophy in the shape of the New England Patriots logo.

A few minutes later, Uzi was apparently called into her motorhome by her team owner, Ricky. He was always a nice dude, being the one who gave Uzi her start in the Cup Series. In a way, he was like her second father.

“Hey there, Uzi! Just the girl I was looking for.” Ricky said. “This a good time to talk?”

“Um…sure.” Uzi replied, sitting down in a nearby chair.

“Okay, good. Now Uzi, I wanted you here because I wanted to tell you something important. I’m retiring.” Ricky said, taking Uzi by surprise.

“You..you are? How come?” Uzi asks.

“To be truthful, I’m getting a little old. Can’t exactly run this whole team forever. So, starting next week my grandson will be taking over operations of Bandit Racing.” Ricky explained. “I hope this isn’t too sudden a change for you.”

“Um…no, it isn’t.” Uzi answers. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she was a little sad Ricky wouldn’t be her team owner anymore.

After her meeting finished, Uzi stepped out of the motorhome to hopefully get some grub before she left for the next track. However, the hot dogs the concession stand was selling weren’t very good.

Speak of the devil, N happened to walk up to her. “Hi, Uzi!”

“Yeah?” Uzi asks with a bit more bite than she intended.

N winced a bit before speaking up. “I just…wanted to congratulate you on winning today. You really are an amazing driver.”

Uzi paused for a moment before responding. She was so used to being skeptical around others, yet there was no doubt here that N really did sound genuine. Maybe Thad was right about him…

So in that moment, Uzi opened up to N.

“Thanks, really. You were really good out there too, have trouble believing you started only a few months ago.”

“Thanks. Sorry I approached you with no warning.” N said.

“No, it’s my fault. I should’ve given you a chance back at Daytona.” Uzi mutters.

Thankfully, N is very forgiving, and the two end up talking about different stuff before they have to leave.

Nevertheless, as Uzi went back to her motorhome, she reflected a bit more on the day as a whole. Sure, it wasn’t all great, but the possibility of her first real friend in a long time felt good to her.

Chapter Text

It was a bright and sunny March afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia. The temperature is still mildly cold for springtime, but that didn’t stop fans from filling the grandstands by the hundreds.

In the garage area, today was an important day for Uzi. She was gonna meet her new boss for the rest of the season. She was gonna miss Ricky, but it was probably best to roll the dice and see what type of person they’ll be.

The door to her motorhome soon opened, and in stepped a male worker drone that looked around a few years older than her. He had light blue eyes and a pretty full head of log cabin brown hair, and was dressed in a pair of jeans and a black collared t-shirt with a small Bandit Racing logo imprinted on the left corner.

“I assume you’re my new boss?” Uzi asks flatly.

“You’d be correct. My name is Ken, and I’ll be your new team owner for the rest of the season.” The other drone says. “And while I’m here, I’m gonna make some changes to this whole organization so it can be USCAR’s top team.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll buy it once I know something’s up.” Uzi says. She’s not sure why, but she’s getting a ton of bad mojo from this guy.

“As the laps wind down, Dane Menville is your race leader, Thad Anderson in 2nd, Uzi Doorman in 3rd.”

Those words rang from the announcer’s booth through the loudspeakers around the track as the race reaches its final laps. Uzi was riding in third behind Thad and the driver at the front.

This was a position Uzi had been in often, therefore she and Thad had a little maneuver they always used.

Uzi moved closer to Thad’s car until she was riding his bumper, and when she saw an opening, she slingshotted past him and sped up until she was right near Dane’s car.

Unfortunately, she ended up rubbing against the right rear of Dane’s car, which caused them both to begin spinning out on the backstretch.

Thankfully, her quick thinking proved to be valuable. Within a few seconds, Uzi threw her car into reverse and hit the gas, allowing herself to keep going all the way to the end.

“And Uzi Doorman wins it in reverse!”

In Victory Lane, Uzi was celebrating like she always did, hamming it up for the fans around her and basking in the glory and attention. That is until Ken came in.

“Hey, uh…Uzi? Can you come over for a few minutes? I wanna talk.”

“Fine…” Uzi says, exiting Victory Lane and following Ken back to her motorhome. Once inside, Ken sits down on one of the couches in front of Uzi.

“Okay, listen…I’m not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but you’re starting to seem a little…irresponsible out there on the track.” Ken begins.

“So? That’s how I’ve always been. Since when is that a problem?” Uzi asks defensively.

“Well, officials aren’t happy with the fact that you drove in reverse to win, not to mention the fact you flipped off Dane Menville as you crossed the line.” Ken continues, playing camera footage from the end of the race that did indeed show Uzi flipping off Dane.

“…And this is relevant how?” Uzi asks.

“That little action of yours cost us 100 points at the championship. Thought you’d have a little more regard for keeping up in the standings.” Ken replies, irritated.

“Look, with all due respect, Ken. I had no idea you had your balls surgically removed.” Uzi claps back.

“Hey, what was that for?” Ken said, now annoyed. “Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you can just say anything you want to people!”

“BITE ME! I didn’t have this issue with Ricky here!” Uzi snapped back. This guy was really getting on her nerves.

“Hey, this isn’t his team now, it’s mine. Got it?” Ken asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Uzi muttered.

“Good. Now go get ready to load the hauler for next week. We’ll be heading out tomorrow.” Ken says as Uzi exits the motorhome.

The whole walk to her hauler, Uzi was grumbling to herself. Who does that guy think he is to tell her how to do her job? That doesn’t give him the right to get all pissy because she does things differently. During her walk, she ends up bumping into N again, the first thing she noticed was him having a black eye.

“Sheesh, what the hell happened to you?” Uzi asks.

“J…J slapped me because I wrecked on Lap 67…” N mutters sadly.

“She hit you?! Why would she do that?” Uzi shouted.

“I don’t know…she hit me and then started yelling at me about how worthless I was and…and…” N can’t even finish his sentence without bursting into tears.

Uzi immediately put her arms around him in an effort to comfort him, something she barely ever did given she wasn’t the affectionate type. She was internally angry at the fact N was stuck with such an asshole boss.

“Dude…stop crying. It’s not your fault she’s such a jerk.” She says. “Hey…Thad and I were gonna head out for a few drinks before we leave. Do you wanna come?”

“Okay…” N says as they begin walking out of the garage area.

Chapter Text

Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was a bright and sunny Memorial Day weekend, hundreds of fans in attendance for the Coca-Cola 600.

Uzi, however, was extremely sleep-deprived. With Ken constantly bossing her around coupled with practice and qualifying, she barely had time to get any feasible rest. She was lucky to even have the energy to climb out of bed come race day.

“Okay, Uzi. Listen up.” Ken began as he and Uzi stood near the motorhome. “I’m counting on you to make us look good. I’m already in talks with a few new sponsors for next year, and I’d hate for any of those to fall through.”

All Uzi could respond with was a faint ‘uh-huh’, still half-awake.

“Are you even listening to me?” Ken asks, mildly irritated.

“Yeah…” Uzi mutters. “I just didn’t get any sleep last night…”

“Well, try to stay awake for the race today! The last thing I need is you falling asleep on the track!” Ken says.

“Sh-shut up! It isn’t my fault I’m so sluggish! You’ve been running me rampant all weekend!” Uzi groans.

Meanwhile, in JCJenson’s motorhome, N was on the couch by himself flipping through a magazine when the sound of someone knocking on the door is heard.

“Hey, moron bot! Get out here, the race is about to start!” came the voice of J from outside.

Immediately dropping his magazine, N got off the couch and scrambled to get his racing suit on before he left the motorhome.

“Finally. Now I want you to do better today. The past few weeks your performance has been lacking a lot.” J says strictly.

“Y-yes, ma’am. I’m sorry, but me and Uzi have just been…spending a lot more time together and it…kinda left me distracted.” N said sheepishly.

“You’re seriously hanging around that purple haired loser?” J asks.

“Yeah…is that a bad thing?” N asks in response.

“Nah, I don’t have time to discuss your personal relationships. Just focus on doing better today, got it?” J grumbled.

N just nods in response.

The race in question was more or less not too eventful at the start. Around 50 laps in, a few cars in the back wrecked out trying to fight for position.

In Uzi’s case, her driving was more choppy and aggressive than it usually was. With all the frustration she was experiencing around Ken, she could barely stay focused on the track. Even so, she’s able to move up through the pack extremely quickly despite trading paint with several of the other drivers.

It’s not long before she reaches 2nd place on lap 270, right behind V’s car. Unfortunately, V’s blocking game is on point today.

“Dammit! Get your ass out of the way!” Uzi yelled, barely being heard from behind the windshield.

“Hmm…nah! Sorry, Uzi! No room for coddling here!” V said in an almost mocking tone.

Uzi growls as she tries making more moves to pass her, but every single one of them being blocked. Eventually it seems like her aggression was reaching a boiling point as she began bumping against V’s car.

“Uzi, buddy, lay off! You’re driving like a pissed off teenager!” Her crew chief set through the radio.

Uzi only ignored it in her haze of blind fury as she began to make a quite risky move to pass on the outside.

This, however, would end up being a very poor move.

Just as soon as she got alongside V, Uzi’s car scraped the wall at a bad angle, which caused her right back tire to blow and her car to spin directly into V’s.

Uzi’s car was soon upside down upon impact, sliding on its roof a few feet before suddenly being t-boned on the driver side window by another car, which sends her into a rollover straight into the catchfence, absolutely destroying the body of the car and even causing the rear axle to be completely ripped off as the car skidded into the infield of Turn 1 in a mess of sparks and twisted metal.

The red flag is thrown not a second too soon after the crash, all remaining cars rolling to a complete stop as the emergency crew made their way to the scene of the crash. The grandstands that were once filled with the cheers of thousands of fans…

…was now completely silent.

V was thankfully able to climb out of her car with only a few scrapes due to only spinning out and hitting the inside wall not too far away from where Uzi crashed.

“Nnrgh…dammit…” she groaned, rubbing her back. Looking over, she found that she was right near Uzi’s now-mangled car. And the window net was still up, meaning she hadn’t tried to climb out yet.

With a sense of unease, V walked up to the car and slowly pulled the net down, finding Uzi unconscious in the driver’s seat. Almost immediately, V began waving to the emergency crew to get over here right now. She didn’t know Uzi all that well, but she knew a serious injury when she saw one.

N was sadly an unfortunate witness to the whole thing, fear gripping his heart with the looming thought that something happened to his new friend.

When Uzi woke up, she was rudely greeted by a really bright light in her eyes. After her eyes had adjusted, she looked around, realizing she was in a hospital bed now. To her left, Thad was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

“Hey, Uzi…” Thad said, a sad smile on his face.

“H-hey, Thad…What…what happened?” Uzi asks.

“You…um…you wrecked. Badly.” Thad says.

“I…I did? Is…is N okay? Who won?” Uzi asks.

“N, he…he left the track when he saw you get loaded into the ambulance. The race was called off.” Thad answers.

Uzi’s expression grows slightly downcast. N left the race over her? Why did he have to be so kind?

“Was anyone hurt?” Uzi asks.

Thad’s expression becomes a little pained. “Uh…one of your tires…it flew into the stands and hit a spectator…”

A sense of worry begins to brew in Uzi now. “…Did they die?”

Thad doesn’t answer. Yet his expression speaks a million words.

Uzi got someone killed…

Uzi didn’t even realize that her body was beginning to tremble as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“Uzi…it was an accident. There is no way it’s on you.” Thad said, trying to reassure Uzi.

“I shouldn’t have been there…” Uzi whimpers.

“Uzi, someone’s dead because racing is a dangerous sport.” Thad says.

“N-no…it was because I was driving…” Uzi muttered, not even registering what Thad said.

“Uzi, listen…this isn’t something you can be blamed for-”

“GET OUT!”

Thad froze. Uzi had just yelled at him, yet her tone was filled with both anger and guilt. Unable to think of anything else to say, Thad obliged and left the room as Uzi began to cry.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been crying for, but she only stopped upon hearing her phone buzz. Pulling it out, she saw it was a text from Ken. The last thing she needed…

Just messaging to see if your okay

Begrudgingly, Uzi sends a response.

I’m fine, douche.

Two more messages came in a few seconds later.

Okay, good.

BTW, you’re fired.