Let the race begin! And let the fun start...
All of the places were randomized too, depending on your character's driving style, vehicle, and the events. Enjoy, guys!
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Early the next morning, I drove into the starting area. A light rain had started, and a few raindrops bounced off of my polished hood. Some folding chairs had been set up under a large tent to watch the start of the race, if anyone wanted too. I jumped out, wiped the water off the hood, and sat down on it. I got there early to make sure that I could get a placement at the start; I had a tendency to get tossed in the back. I would wait. It was six A.M., the race didn’t start until 7:30. My helmet- decorated in a blue paint job with yellow racing stripes down its center- was playing some rock music from a nearby radio station to pass the time. After a few songs, Noir and Teran drove in. They stopped behind me, wondering who would take the spot alongside me for the front row- each row was only two wide. Teran took it.
I switched off the radio on my helmet, flipped open the visor, and shouted a greeting.
'Wow, you’re up early!’ Noir said, opening his car’s door with a loud creak. Teran jumped over his door- the two were right alongside each other in a moment.
'Wanted to make sure I got the first spot. I have bad luck with placement.’ I replied. The lovers laughed, but I didn’t see why.
'Same here! We were surprised to see someone so soon. Could have sworn it was early.’ Teran said. I leaved over my car’s windshield, taking a look at the dim digital clock.
‘It’s only 6:17. It is early.’
‘No kidding. Best of luck, Erran.’ Noir said. They started walking away, but Noir whispered something to Teran, and Noir turned around. He tossed me a soggy newspaper. ‘You seem like the adventurous type. Thought you may enjoy reading about this event happening half way around the world.’ He said. The two split up and jumped in their cars to stay out of the cold rain. Sadly, my buggy didn’t have a convertible roof, but the insides were waterproofed.
I flipped open the newspaper, tuned in the rock station again, and started reading. Something was happening up in Alaska, full of zombie-type creatures, total devastation, and full ADF involvement. No wonder I didn’t see any ADF security, just some rent-a-cops.
I dropped the newspaper into one of the folding chairs as one of the announcers came up the stairs behind them, holding an umbrella. He was a tall canine of some sort- a Dingo, at a reckon. He was tall, with dark brown fur, and he wore a simple grey vest and some slacks, along with dress shoes and a tie. He smiled when he saw me.
'Oh, you one of the racers?’ He asked. I nodded. Noir and Teran shouted a hello each.
'Name’s Nadek Sonme. I’m sort of a star in these parts.’ The dingo said. He walked over and grabbed the soggy newspaper, pointing to the story I just read. I was there, you know. Survived it and everything. They shipped me down here to recuperate, and then the locals asked me if I could do the announcing for this race. I was glad to.’
'Really?’ I said. I was interested, and I had time to spare. Nadek was good at telling tales, anyhow.

A dozen motors purred in unison at the drenched starting line. The people watching from the lined up chairs or the surrounding windows were cheering, waiting for the race to start.
'Welcome, everyone to the third annual Italia Prix, complete with plenty of new and varied racers! The course is primed with over three thousand cameras, plenty of different routes, and medical teams waiting for any crashes, along with some of the best pit stop crews on the continent.’ Nadek started. A band was playing some slow jazz from under an awning, and several vendors had set up shop. Each racer had a specialized helmet for his or her own species, and they all were connected on the same bandwidth. Also, they couldn’t be switched off without breaking the radio.
'My name is Nadek Sonme, everyone, and I’ll be your announcer for the entirety of this grand event! And now, ladies and gentleanthros of all ages, get yourselves ready for the race!’ Nadek shouted. Everyone cheered. He gave us a salute from his rooftop, where he was under a small tent.
'The race works like this- Three legs compromise the entity of the track, which graces from here to Rome. We can watch it from here, on all the screens that we given you.’ Everyone looked at their laptop-like monitors that had been distributed so people could watch the race. We were looking at the scantly-dressed female Stoat that was walking out onto a walkway that was being used as the starting line, a flare gun in her hand.
'3...’ Nadek said. Engines roared in anticipation.
'2...’ I pushed my foot down on the gas pedal, ready to get speeding.
'1...’ Engines roared.
Bam! The flare gun fired.
‘GGGOOO!’

A cloud of dust flared up behind us as we tore down the concrete. Our first turn appeared before us, and we all shoved down it. Noir pushed me ahead, almost into a light pole. There was a loud crash from the dust behind me... God damn, this street was tight.
'How the hell are we supposed to spread out?’ Shamrock asked. I could see him somewhere behind.
‘Wait until the track opens up!’ I shouted back.
‘Looks like the racers are going at it today, the tight streets are stopping most of them from passing each other...’ I heard Nadek say. We were tuned into his broadcast as well.
We swerved around another, full U-turn around a building. A fence exploded in front of me, and Bix came flying out, skidding on the pavement and getting the lead.
‘Whoa, what’s this? It seems that Bix has taken a shortcut and gained the lead!’ Nadek shouted. I switched off his commentary for now.
‘What the hell, was that legal?’ Zak asked. I could see him a good distance behind.
‘Yeah, it was! As long as you get to the checkpoint for this leg in time, it doesn’t matter the route!’ Bix shouted. I tuned in Nadek again.
‘Nadek, you said there was a track, but Bix is saying that it doesn’t matter the route...’
‘Both of us are right, Erran. Cameras are placed along the fastest route, but sometimes shortcuts can be made. Use them well.’ He responded. I shrugged, then turning into a plaza and flattening a few potted plants as I zoomed through. Zak and Rose followed on their nimble bikes, but the others took the normal path. I jumped a bridge at full speed, sliding across a flat roof and landing right in the middle of the track again, way in front. Zak landed a short distance ahead, but Rose took a different path.
‘Rose, you alright?’ I heard Zak ask.
‘Yeah, thanks. My bike doesn’t have that speed, I’m going around.’ She said. I saw her in ym rear-view mirror speeding out from an alleyway.
‘The racers are now exiting the habited sector of Venice, and entering the Scar...’ Nadek commented. The buildings around here were decrepid, aged, and falling apart. I was on two wheels for a moment because my buggy hit a pile of bricks with one side.
'Don’t forget me!’ Tango shouted. I heard his vehicle’s massive engine, and I looked up just in time to see the vehicle smashing through the third floor of the nearby building. Noir crashed through alongside, and Teran was right behind. Bricks bounced off my buggy, and I tossed a few out of my lap as I drove. Tango had the lead, and Noir was right behind.
'Hell of a move, guys! Nice driving!’ Teran shouted. The two dragons shouted a thanks.
'You kinda ruined my upholstery, though...’ I said. The rain started pouring down harder as I said that.
'I think that’s going to ruin it a lot more than my kick-ass driving!’ Noir shouted.
I took out a mailbox as I took another turn. A canal was coming up, and this one was empty of water.
'Aren’t these things usually full of water?’ Myst asked, confused.
'Maybe the tide’s low? That usually happens during a storm.’ Zak said.
'No, these things are made to stay full, even when at full low tide. This storm’s massive if it’s lowering the tide that low...’ I replied. There was a massive crack of thunder.
'No kidding!’ Zak added. The winds were blowing hard. Like, really hard: at least 70 miles per hour. Loose papers and leaves were fluttering about in the gusts.
'Well hell, this’ll make things fun...’ Emily muttered.
I swerved off to the left to ramp up a stairwell which lead me to a wide sidewalk. I sped down that, jumping over the racers below and landing alongside Tango. Dorado was speeding up, his jeep working as best as possible. He snuck past and pushed into second place. I noticed that his jeep had some sort of overdrive function, if I was to go by the black fumes that he was leaving behind. The fumes stopped.
'Oh yeah, beat that!’ Dorado shouted. We all converged on a highway exit ramp- yeah, going up the wrong way. We ignored the rusted, aged signs and went with the ones all around telling us the route. We could see the ocean- and the typhoon being generated in it.
'Mother of god...’ Monty muttered.
'How good are you guys at racing through a tropical storm?’ I asked. I quickly diverged down the next ramp, going to take a different route. A few of the racers- Shamrock, Monty, and Myst followed me down. I was having a hard time keeping my buggy on the road due to the massive winds coming in- I could just imagine the trouble Zak and Rose were having.
'Having a few problems there?’ Monty asked.
'You think?’ I shouted as my buggy got blown through a bent stop sign. Monty’s large truck was handling the wind well, and Shamrock’s vintage car was just as heavy.
'Watch out!’ Shamrock shouted as a building collapsed ahead of us. Shamrock sped under it as it fell, Monty swerved to the right, around it, and I actually stopped for a moment to get around it, loosing some distance. When I got around the building, the two racers were already a few hundred feet ahead.
The city of Venice ended there, and we entered some coastal plains. Tall grass, sand, and large, lapping waves. The highway that the others were on dropped down- well, it had shattered and crumpled to the ground below- so we met back up. The ones of us prepared for off-road handled the grass and sand quite well, especially myself, but Bix and Emily were left behind because their cars couldn’t handle it so well. They’ll catch up, for sure.
I took the sandy path, and quickly gained some speed. Zak was close behind, going just as fast. Tango leapt over a dune and landed almost in the water, the massive waves smacking against the side of his custom vehicle. He drove out of the waves quickly.
'Gah, the water got in through the windows!’ Tango exclaimed. I looked over to my right and saw Noir making a trail through the grass, and Teran was just ahead of him. Myst was behind them, fighting for his position with Monty. He bumped Monty, Monty rammed back, almost slamming Myst into a small tree.
'What the hell happened to Rose?’ Someone asked.
'The wind knocked her bike over. But that thing’s built well and she had plenty of safety gear, so she’s fine.
'Of course I am!’ Rose shouted through the radio. I looked back and saw a speck zooming down the shattered part of the raised highway behind us.
I crashed through an aged tree trunk that the tide washed in, throwing it back. The shore that we were on had a gentle curve to it, and the shore could be seen for several miles to come. Well, would have been if it wasn’t for the massive amounts of rain. Lightning stuck not to far away from us, lighting the grass ablaze. Noir, Teran, and the rest of the racers in the grass quickly darted into the sand, despite their vehicles having a harder time with it. I spotted Bix jumping out and kicking up sand behind himself. Emily came out a few seconds later, overcoming Bix and ramming him aside.
The fire spread quickly, which made me worry about Myst and Monty, who were still in there. Even Rose had made it onto the sand by now.
My worries were righted when Myst smashed through the thick grass, and Monty came out right after him, a chunk of his truck still on fire. The flame quickly flickered out.
'Good lord, that fire was quick!’ Zak shouted, looking at the blaze behind.
'No kidding, my paintjob’s ruined...’ Monty replied.
Thunder cracked, and a lightning bolt slammed into the water out in the sea. We quickly sped past a rusted chassis of a shipping boat.
'That was were I found my car!’ Shamrock exclaimed. The ship was busted in half and shipping containers were scattered amongst the rocks, most of them still closed tight. Noir ramped up a half-buried one, and Teran drove around.
I was holding a lead due to my buggy being the best at this terrain, and Zak was close behind. Myst was in third, with Dorado fighting him for the placement. The others were in a jumble.
The wind was blowing hard now, and I could barely hold my lead. A shipping contained somehow got dislodged from the deck of the ship above, causing it to slam down into the sand below, almost flattening Emily. A pickup truck in mint condition fell out.
'Holy shit, this is serious!’ She shouted.
'I’ve seen larger vehicles get blown into the air in these sort of winds when they’re in the open. The fire’s stopped, I’m going to take cover in the grass, hopefully that wills stop some of the wind.’ Zak said, speeding back into the tall reeds.
'I think I’ll join him. Don’t mind me!’ Rose added. She had somewhat caught up- she was still in last, but the gap was closing. She sped into the reeds, which will increase that gap again.
'Maybe you should be getting in there, Erran?’ Tango asked.
'I can hold her.’ I replied.
'We see some of the racers taking drastic measures due to the ever-increasing power of the storm! How long will they hold out, and will they reach the next city in time? Will they be safe? Emergency teams, be on standby.’ Nadek commented on our racing.
Next city?
We reconnected with the shattered highway after a few minutes of that racing, and we all converged on it. Noir and Teran quickly took the lead- which I suppose was quite helpful, due to Noir’s heavy car, he could ram debris out of the way. But when Bix and Emily hit the pavement, their speed practically doubled. Bix and Emily were competing for the lead now, and also smashing the debris out of the way, which wasn’t good for their vehicles. Emily slammed into a bulkier wreck and was quickly halted, her car’s hood crumpling. She backed away from it, still somewhat intact.
'God damn it!’ She shouted. Bix laughed something, but then hit a pothole and almost flipped.
'You guys should’ve brought four wheel drive!’ Teran replied. Bix groaned, and then kept on going. Shamrock was gaining a lead now, and he had passed me. I was in fourth- Noir and Teran in the lead, then Shamrock, then myself, and then a jumble behind me. I didn’t see everyone, but of course we just passed over a hill.
There were several exits most of us didn’t take that lead to smaller roads that branched off into the forest. Emily, Dorado, and Tango took some of the other roads, a different one for each of them.
The cyclone behind us was ripping up the highway that we left behind.
'Holy shit, that was close!’ Someone shouted. We were all watching the cyclone behind us, no one noticed Bix speeding out ahead and smashing through some rusted car chassis, which exploded in tetanus-causing dust and shard, which scattered the road behind him.
'Hah, try to catch me through that!’ Bix shouted. Noir flattened most of it, and Teran swerved around it. I tried taking the route Noir created, but my buggy’s axles were too wide. I large chunk of metal made me spin out, giving Myst and Emily a chance to push past. Monty was somewhere ahead as well. As I pulled my vehicle out, Rose was head-to-head with me. She pushed up her visor, looking at me.
'You best watch out for Emily. She looks furious.’ She said. She pushed down the visor again and strafed to avoid a hole in the road.
'No kidding.’ I replied. Rain was going almost sideways in the air due to the wind, but the cyclone behind us wasn’t going our way, but the exact opposite. We would make it out of this.

The end of the leg was coming up. I had passed several people, but more were ahead. My placement wasn’t the best.
I found myself in third, of all places. I screeched into the large parking lot that the race first leg ended at, and spotted Noir and Teran parked there, chatting. They had made it there quick, Noir in first place with Teran just behind. People started coming in. Our placement for the first round was...

1.Noir
2.Teran
3.Erran
4.Zak
5.Bix
6.Emily
7.Tango
8.Myst
9.Rose
10.Shamrock
11.Monty
12.Dorado

We were welcomed by the screaming crowds. The next leg would begin tomorrow, after a good rest and some repairs on my buggy...