Author's note:
Given that I've posted this story elsewhere, and more so since it's a anthropomorphic story, I figure even though it's going against my initial plans, I've decided to put what I've been working on for over 2 years on here.

To put it in summary, Apex had started off as an NFS Most Wanted Fan-fiction that featured characters both canon and original in a plot that involved the events of Underground 2 thru Carbon. Initial inspiration/encouragement came from the cars I customized in Most Wanted and what vector/toon's I made of them from screenshots.

However, as time went by as I worked on this concept. I found the world made by EA to be less and less what I wanted to work with, and decided to ditch that concept to go for a far more original story approach, bringing over the original characters and many of the cars thought of from the start of that.

In addition, it allowed me to go more easily into one story concept that kept failing more than once for me, a racing-story involving the presence of both humans and anthropomorphic beings (IE furries, scalies, etc), I went with this since to my awareness (then again maybe I should look harder), there isn't really a story involving racing with both humans and anthromorphs, and plus it's a real crack at this point at an original story beyond what attempts I have tried in the past.

I promised myself from the get-go that I would try to go for a story where the characters have an actual 'character' to them, to give them personality, history, relationships, beliefs, etc. The last 2 I've been a bit unsure about (namely relationships beyond friendships), and to say the least it's made me try to pay far more attention to as many details as possible so I don't leave any possible potholes in here, or as few as I can (there was one at a stretch at the least so far looking back at all of this, but hell, maybe I'm being too critical of myself).

Far as the range of cars and racing involved, I want to go for as wide a spectrum as I can within reason, but to say the least, I've been trying to go with a car philosophy that apparently has been damaged thanks to how I took some things in the past (to say I put no real blame on others, I blame myself) but after all this time, I'm going to stand by it...

That being I'm not going to aim for just one kind of car subculture, be it tuners, muscle cars, exotics/supercars, Trucks/SUVs, show cars, sleepers, etc, I want to go for them all in some way. So expect to see dragsters as well as drifters, grip driving and high-speed runs. People who tune cars for power and people who tune them for overall handling domination, and those who try to find a compromise of the two and then some. Expect entry level like the Corolla GT-S (AKA the Sprinter Trueno and the Levin AE86) and Cobalt SS to moderate/mid like the Evo X and Camaro SS to higher level such as the Nissan GTR and C6 Z06 to exotic/supercar/hypercar such as the Ford GT, Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Bughatti Veryon to name just a few.

Expect cars even I would not necessary buy if I even had the money like the Trail Blazer SS, Range Rover Sport supercharged and even the Porsche Cayne to name a few others.

In short, don't be surprised to see a variety of cars, or at least an attempt to do so.

I guess all else left to say is, hope to anyone who actually reads this that they enjoy them.

Apex - Tales of Speed

Introduction…

More Author notes: Although the story itself is going to be divided into two key arcs, prologue and present - There's a chance I'm going to go about the story in a non-linear fashion, meaning one chapter may take place at one date, another before or after, etc. I say that since this first part technically is at the end of the prologue arc, but the one after that will take place before this part.

Why I wrote this part is for the obvious, to get people wondering about things for the next part, that may begin to answer some questions.
That being said, let’s begin.

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Chapter 0 - Going out with a bang… (Bad house music)

Date: October, XX, 2007
Location: Laguna Seca, California, USA


"Hello and welcome back to the final round of the Two thousand and seven Time Attack championship. If you are just joining us, we are live at Laguna Seca, as we are about to start the formation lap that will kick off this race. I'm Bill with my partner Jeff as we gota say, it has been one exciting championship, and it will surely end with a bang and a lot of talk for months to come."

"Right you are Bill, and as they roll off, leading the pack aside from the pace car is none other than Scott the Outlaw Cooper in his BMW M3 GTR, and regardless in this race if he finishes first, at all or is a DNF, his car has stirred up a great deal of controversy among not just the racing teams but also the fans and even a number of governing bodies such as SCCA and FIA to name two."

"For those unfamiliar to the Time Attack rules. In a nutshell; the cars have to be road legal, the tires used also road legal, the fuel is also road car based, although in some cases some of these cars don't run on that, they run on Bio-fuel but that's another story, the final being no racing cars. So the question begs, why that car? Believe it or not, it's actually a race car that has been converted for road car use and legally is a car that can be used on the Road in North America and Europe. However, the rule makers are aware of what this car is capable of, just by looking at the American LeMans GT production class in two thousand and one when it all but cleaned house, forcing rule changes which took the car out of the equation. Now it's back, and although it's not in excess of six hundred brake horsepower, it's been placed in the unlimited class with an hefty weight penalty."

"Over a hundred and sixty pounds to be more exact and it's still not deterred against cars far more powerful and lighter than it. It goes to show the difference between cars even when put at a disadvantage."

"In second place is Alex Schneider in the Porsche Carrera GT, has been strong all around and considering his terrible record in the rain, it's a surprise to see him this far up after yesterday's wet qualifying period where it poured, but that's how it is when it does rain at Laguna seca, you never know who's going to really place where until it happens."

"What's even more surprising is who's after 3rd place, and by the way for 3rd place is another strong runner, Richard 'Dog' Arnold in the Corvette C6. Like nearly every car here it started life as a road car and was built into what is seen today, it's quite remarkable that it's been modified to such an extent it can go toe-to-toe with the likes of cars like the Carrera GT, although the M3 GTR is a different story, and next is fourth place, a big surprise today. Andrew Travis, driving a Lotus Exige, not an exige S and you may ask why, it's because unlike most this one has a turbo pushing three hundred and twenty to the rear tires, it was an Natural Aspirated Exige with a turbo and other mods to make it credible. It's in the TA 400 class and it was able to get it up there with the heavy hitters. How he'll fair in the dry is anyone's guess but on a track like this you never know."

"In fifth is another strong runner, and especially for a car like hers, its an Impreza GDA, an older model that surprisingly is more road able than a lot of these cars, but she's proven herself more than able to stick it to them, and to be honest it's almost as well rounded as even an MCR or a MINES Skyline. She's done well in the rain, we'll see how she will fair in the dry."

"Sixth and seven places are another set of surprises, Christopher Hann, known in the Mid-west during the 'Street Legal' events on downhill canyon routes, and he's up there with the big guns in his MR2, it's the newer generation, and it's cranking two hundred and ninety thanks to modified engine internals and a supercharger, very nice qualifying, we'll see how he'll do in the overall race."

"Eight is Amber Campbell in the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale. She has not been having it easy in the TA league, although last year when she and her team made it's debut and was a shock when they took first thru 3rd place in one race at Wonder hill Raceway, from there on the rest of the pack, particularly the 00 team, have been on the ready, she's gotten a couple of wins but she's far from the overall but still has a chance for the TA 500 cup. Ninth is Kelly Sanders in the Ford Mustang GT. Up until 2007 she was mostly in drag races until late last year when she did some heavy modifications to the car including replacing the live- rear axle with a independent rear suspension setup along with a clutch-pack LSD, among other changes to handle the corners. It's barely having anything to do with the original but that's no surprise since that isn't the first car she's had extensively modified... or rebuilt for the matter. She's done remarkably well, no championship contention however given she's in the unlimited class and hasn’t been winning to the same extent as the others. But she could out-do Campbell and a few other racers and finish very high up, but we'll see for the last race."

"and rounding out the top ten, Keisha Nambu in the Lan evo 8, She's been doing rather well but for her to place this far down is a surprise, but the race is ahead.."

"And that's the top ten, going down the list we've got some other heavy hitters, Lisa in the Cayman S is in 11th, very strong all around, she may have the TA 400 class in the bag but she has to deal with her team-mate Andrew who's going to start higher than her, and behind Mc Cathy is another MR car, the MR2 SW20 driven by Brandon Wilburn, same output as the Exige by Andrew, 320, but isn't as light but his car has been tuned more towards speed and handling in contrast to the acceleration and handing that has been the case in most races for Travis. In 13th is Bailey Dakota, in the RX-7, she's been very strong, and giving Rotaries a good name up in TA500, and has been at Amber's tail in that class, a surprise given the differences between both cars, it's not a case of one lacking more than the other, but a case of both of these drivers pushing it, but also being tied up with the rest of the pack."

"14th is another rookie sensation, Jamal More in the Eclipse GSX, right at the razor's edge far as power goes in TA 400, like Thomas who's actually been outpaced by this guy, he's made a late entry and like Thomas and like Cooper and a bunch of the other drivers, he's an Ex-street racer as well. His car has 400 to the four tires and no more powerful, he's been proving himself against Nambu, mc Cathy, Christopher and Andrew in TA400, even though he isn't a championship contender this year, if he stays and he stays a force in 2008 like he has for 07 he will be."

"Behind him is Kevin Lark, known better to others as 'Bolt' in the Cobalt SS. He's had heavy competition in the TA 300 league but if he finishes ahead of anyone else in TA 300, he's got it in the bag, Although he's the least powerful in the top 20, he's proven himself more than an able driver, and then there is the fact it was raining so that also played a factor this his spot."

"Behind him is the Vixen driver Aneko Miya in the Toyota Supra Turbo. She's had an okay season in TA 500, has had some good races, some bad ones, she's overall managed to do well in that Mark IV and if she can finish up in the top ten and ahead of anyone else in her class, she'll bag it, easier said than done as none of these racers are pushovers, several of them starting ahead of her."

"17th place is the other Hann Twin, the marginally younger sister, Christina, but with a significantly more powerful machine, an MR2 like Brandon but this one with a hundred more BHP to the rear tires at four hundred and twenty, and she's been doing very well, all things considered the cars she's up against, how she'll fair is anyone's guess."

"19th is Bruiser in the 993 911 GT2, the rain didn't like his car, he spun just exiting the corkscrew on his final qualifying lap, and it cost him badly, his only other good lap put him there."

"At the very last, of the top twenty of a forty strong grid, is Vincent Manner in the Gallardo with five hundred and fifty to the four tires, his season has been one to forget, he's managed two top 3 places but the rest of his run has been less than great, a lot of his runs he retired, but you have to give him credit for pursuing to the end, maybe he'll have better luck next year. It makes you wonder why he keeps trying when he seems outpaced, but if you look at him, it seems like he lacks confidence in himself."

"Yeah, I have to go with you on that, he is lacking confidence, and it asks why he's in this. But it's clear that what times he has done well, has been far from luck, in one instance he was even able to match Coyote's pace and briefly lead at Sandstorm Speedway's Infield before being overtaken by Scott and later his own team-mate, Alex with Richard right behind him to finish 3rd in that race. He may do well... time will tell.

With that being said... we've rounded out the top twenty of the grid, twenty out of forty two infact, it's a very lively place here, at Laguna seca for the final round of the TA championship, although it's been decided that Scott, the outlaw has won the championship already, it'll be interesting to see just how this final round will turn out."

"And their formation lap is about to come to an end, this year we have alternated between standing and rolling starts, the purpose is simply put variety and another degree of keeping drivers on their toes. Today's race is going to be a rolling start. The Pace car has entered the pit lane as Cooper goes around the last corner, with Schneider and Arnold right behind him, the green flag is waved and we are off for the final around of the 2007 Tuner Time Attack championship!"'

End of Chapter 0 - Part 1 will be finished soon as part 2 is finalized and part 3 is in the final stages of development. Untill then.

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Final AN: For a while I thought about doing some additional changes to each chapters, such as some corrections, which may still happen, but for the most part, I'll leave the chapters they I posted them for the most part way back when. But that may change, time will tell.