Beginning Word Count: 16,726
Today, I'm posting a Speed Racer fan fiction. Many of you reading this may not know what fan fiction is, so a brief explantion is in order. Fan fiction is a continuation of the story, written not by the individuals or corporations which hold the copyright, but by people who love it. Sometimes, it is an exploration of minor characters or relationships that are not developed. Sometimes, it is back story for scenes wer have been given. Sometimesit is full blown amazing tales. It can come in a lot of varieties and it can cover an amazing array of genres -- books, movies, television series, games, musicians, etc. Personally, I tend to write / read fan fiction solely on television. I do not write them on books because (and this is my opinion), the author had full budget to be able to explore any relationships, stories, tangents that he or she desired. Movies are a little different. I don't tend to write / read those because they tend to have a solid beginning and end point. I don't see much point in fan fiction based on real people, and I'm not particularly interested in games.
I'm not saying I do not think these things should be written. Simply that I do not particularly have much use for them personally. I imagine there are a lot of people who have not much use for fan fiction in general, or see no point to television fan fiction. To each their own.
That being said, fan fiction walks a fairly fine line. Technically, fans are taking the creation of another person and expanding on it, sharing it. And they do not own any rights. Many fans have received cease and desist orders on their work, and many of these fans have...to some extent...brought it on themselves. Copyright holders have a certain responsibility to protect their work -- that being said, most won't go out of their way to seek out those who might be 'infringing' on it. Unless those fans do something stupid.
What is stupid?
Writing a story you are so proud of that you mail it off directly to the author. Attempting to profit off of such a story.
In general, they are frequently aware of fan fiction, but so long as they have plausible deniability, they can tolerate it. Take that veneer away from them, and they must pursue it.
So, without further ado, I give you the following standard formatting and disclaimer you will find on the top of most pieces of fanfiction.
Fandom: Speed Racer
Characters: Speed Racer / Trixie
Title: The Conquences of Decisions
Rating: PG
Part: One of _______ (yeah, no idea)
Disclaimer: Speed Racer is owned by Digital Manga Publishing, Tatsunoko Production, and Trans Lux and was created by Tatsuo Yoshida. The character was adapted for English by Peter Fernandez. I make no claim to ownership and am making no profit from this work.
Speed Racer was sitting at the table, talking to Trixie, when the doorbell rang. He looked at her and she shrugged. "Are you expecting someone?" Trixie asked.
"No. Can't think of anyone," Speed said.
"Best go answer it," Trixie said with a giggle.
"Let Spritle get it."
Trixie raised an eyebrow, and Speed nodded. "All right." He stood up and walked out of the kitchen to the living room. Trixie followed him. Speed opened the door.
A man wearing a suit and dark glasses stood outside the door.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Racer," he said ominously.
Trixie frowned at him. "Who are you?" She didn't beat around the bush. This man had interrupted one of their few moments alone.
"I am Jason Teemers, and I have a delivery for Mr. Racer."
"I'll see to it my father gets it," Speed said.
"No, Mr. Racer, this delivery is for you. It is an invitation to the Americas 900."
The Americas 900 was a track race, rather than a cross country. The track was a mile long, so there would be 900 laps. The catch for this race was that the first three hundred laps were raced clockwise, the next three hundred were raced counter clockwise, and the last three hundred laps were raced clockwise. Of course, there was an inherant danger in that the faster racers would begin the counter clockwise laps while the slower racers were still racing clockwise. This danger would happen again at the six hundred lap point. There were several laps where racers would be going in opposite directions. And this was an invitation only race, open to only one hundred racers at a time. It was a race with a bad history. No more than half of the racers ever crossed the finish line, and there was usually more than one serious injury.
Pops would never want Speed to race in that race. But it was still one that was very prestigious. There was also a very large purse attached to this event. And while Pops would not admit it, it was very expensive to maintain a racing company. Speed knew they could use the winnings for this race.
Speed smiled. "Thank you. I'll let you know if I decide to race." He took the invitation as Trixie stared at him.
After Mr. Teemers left, Trixie turned to him. "You're not seriously considering that race, are you?"
Speed looked down. "You have to admit, if I win, it's a prestigious win."
"Speed! It's dangerous."
"Come on now, Trix. Racing is dangerous. Every race I enter has an element of danger." He looked at her. "Have you ever seen a single race I've entered where it was not dangerous?"
Trixie frowned. "You have a point. Are you going to tell Pops?"
"Yeah. I am. But I'm not going to keep it from him."
Trixie nodded. "Good."
"Of course, I don't think he is going to like it at all," Speed muttered.
"I should think!" Trixie said.
"Oh come on, Trix. You know I'm a good driver."
"Speed. You're an amazing driver. It's not you I'm worried about, it's the other drivers."
Speed smiled and pulled her to a hug. "I know. But I'm better." He laughed and Trixie soon joined. "So, you're going to support me when I tell Pops?"
"Of course, I'm going to support you! I always do."
"You do," Speed confirmed. "You absolutely do."
"That's because I'm your girl."
Speed hugged her and smiled. "And I'm glad you're my girl."
They spend the rest of the afternoon going over plans on how to break the news to Pops Racer, and convince him to let them go.
"Absolutely not!" Pops roared.
"Pops, I want to do this race."
"Are you out of your mind? It's dangerous!"
Speed looked at his father and counted to ten. He was only shouting because he was concerned, but Speed was not backing down. "Pops, every race has dangers. I can't think of a single race I've been in that didn't have some kind of a danger. But I'm not going to stop racing."
Pops looked at him. "You're doing this, with or without my blessing."
"Yes sir. But I'd rather take Sparky with me for the pit stops. You too, if you'd come, but I don't want to leave my team behind. I race better with them, and I know there is less chance of the Mach 5 being tampered with."
"Okay. But you're right. Sparky is going. But I'm going to stay home and see to it that Spritle and Chim Chim do not stow away.
Speed grinned.
"I don't want them hiding in the trunk of the Mach 5, Speed. And we both know they would."
Speed laughed. "Yeah, they would. And it will be nice to get some time with Trix too."
"I did not hear that," Pops said with a smile.
Soon enough, it was time to travel to the race. Trixie checked the trunk of the Mach 5 several times to make certain that Spritle had not managed to come. Mom and Pops saw them off to the plane, and they were off. Trixie was excited to be spending time with Speed, even with Sparky there. Sparky was pretty good at giving them time; however, Spritle never would.
They arrived two days before the race. Speed and Trixie visited several areas in the town surrounding it. While they did not notice, Speed Racer was being observed by a rival, someone whose company had never been able to beat him on the track or recruit him. And he had finally figured out a way to handle Speed Racer.
Speed Racer frowned and shouted at an official. "She is part of my pit crew."
"You can only have one mechanic. So who do you want working on the car," the man asked.
"Speed, it's okay. I can sit in the stands and cheer you from there. I don't mind," Trixie said. "I'll see you in the winner's circle, so don't worry."
Speed nodded and gave Trixie a hug. "Yes you will. Thank you for not being upset."
"I'm not. Really, now go and win that race." Trixie smiled. Speed leaned down and gave her a kiss. Trixie blushed.
"Oh geez, you two, save it for after the race!" Sparky said with a laugh.
Trixie giggled, and Speed put on his racing helmet, and then climbed into the Mach 5. "Go win, Speed."
"I will. Just you watch!"
Speed drove out of the bay and the racing official handed Trixie a ticket. "This is for your seat."
Trixie took the ticket and waved to Sparky once, then headed into the stands to watch the race.
It was thrilling. The cars were driving fast and furious, and Trixie shouted out, calling out Speed's name. The race lasted a while, with several cars vying for the lead position. The Mach 5 was very distinctive, and always near the front. Trixie shouted with glee as Speed was the first driver that pulled into the turnaround and started driving headlong onto the oncoming drivers. He was brilliant, dodging driver and car heading fast through the oncoming drivers. As several drivers were up to four laps behind the leaders, it would be a rough several miles as the rest of the drivers caught up. No sooner had the turns started, then the crashes started. Trixie wanted to cover her eyes, but she could not take her eyes off of the race. She needed to make sure she watched out for Speed.
Trixie was so consumed with watching the race, that she did not notice when two new people arrived in the spaces beside her. They were furtively watching her. And then it happened. Trixie screamed out when several cars crashed. There were ten cars burning. Speed was not among them.
But while the crowd screamed at the car crash, the two men who had arrived, grabbed Trixie. She screamed for help, but her cries were overwhelmed by the shouts of the crowd.
To be Continued ......
Today's Word Count: 1,832
Total Word Count: 18,558
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