“Where the heck is he?” Typhon sighed at the worry in Empusa’s voice as he turned to the, slightly less annoying than she was at first, woman with a blank stare.

“Aaron thinks he’s a wizard… basically, never late, never early, but right on time.” Typhon recalled his own complaints during their first week of travelling, which consisted of just himself and Aaron…

To think it had been two months since then and it felt like a lifetime ago…

Why was he thinking as if Aaron had died? Aaron was likely getting everything he needed for some hair-brained scheme of his that was likely to mess with everyone involved except for himself, leaving everyone annoyed/angry/sad and himself as a winner…

But it’s because they have a leader like that, that they can relax the way they do… rather than having Typhon going on a warpath and simply assimilating all Chained he would defeat into his group, looking for his sister slowly, Typhon preferred this life, kind of slow, exciting at times, if irritating, but their movement speed was quick, considering that if he were to try the warlord path, he’d require a huge amount of Chained and resources to even consider control over one area, let alone all twelve to find his sister.

“Well, that wizard better be worried… this track isn’t often used for a reason… the track starts outside of it, but most of the track runs through an area known as the Hydra Nest… the Hydra, a dangerous Chained known for poison and trickery.” Mino complained seriously as the other two glanced at each other… then Empusa and Typhon sighed…

They already had the understanding that no matter what happened from this point on, they were likely to end up fighting the Hydra, and if patterns continued as usual, Typhon would end up Stabilizing the Chained and getting the Hydra to join them…

“I am not fighting alone.” Mino seemed confused, as he barely got the story of how Empusa joined, or how Aaron had planned the possible recruitment of Mino from the beginning.

“Fine, but Mino will help as well, I’m not exactly strong.” Indeed, Empusa was correct in her assumption of her strength… Typhon was stronger than her, but weaker than Mino when it came to strength. Then again, Typhon was faster than both of them, and with his nanotech based chains, his versatility was above both of them as well.

“I have no idea what you two are talking about, but we need to figure out the competition.” Mino recommended, Typhon and Empusa both agreed with his thoughts as they looked around…

Unfortunately, Typhon was new to cars, Empusa didn’t care and Mino couldn’t even fit in them until about three weeks ago.

Nonetheless, they knew there were a lot of fast cars around, many looking sleeker and faster than the GT-R, despite its already high speed… and considering the driver wasn’t there, but the car was, Typhon and the others were right to be irritated.

“I see you three are missing your driver… chicken much?” Mino glanced at Cyclops to see him glaring at them, his Bugatti Chiron being moved to the starting line by one of his workers, and Mino sighed, scratching the back of his head.

“Cyclops, you know I’m your friend. I had no idea Aaron was going to do this.” Mino tried to calm down the man with the eye-patch, but he wouldn’t be placated.

“Yeah, well that doesn’t change the fact that your new boss wants to take my dream from me… I’m going to win, and then rub it in his face!” Mino didn’t quite know how to react to this, as he didn’t know Aaron as well as the other two… but Cyclops was also his friend… that being said-

“Cyclops… you’re a good racer… but I recommend you give up.” Mino added, and Cyclops intensified his one eyed glare, looking at Mino with the eye of a betrayed friend.

“Why, cause your boss can’t race to save his life?” Cyclops baited a reaction, only to get a reply from an unexpected source.

“No, it’s because I don’t do anything unless I’ll win.” Aaron had finally returned, after going missing for a week since the meeting with Cyclops…

And he returned with a Koenigsegg Agera SR.

“…How the… never mind, I won’t ask.” Empusa gave up the attempt at wondering how Aaron did whatever he did. It just didn’t make sense, even when he explained it. Cyclops scoffed at the car though.

“Excellent car, I’ll admit… so you traded up? It still won’t be enough to beat my Chiron.” Cyclops noted as Aaron shrugged while shaking his head.

“Oh, I have no doubt my car isn’t quite as good as yours, I mean, your car has been heavily modified after all… but that’s fine. The skill of the driver can compensate.” Aaron smirked, and Cyclops glared at Aaron for what he had just insinuated… that Cyclops wasn’t as good a driver as Aaron.

“I’d like to see you get a proper vehicle after this, with me winning and refusing to build anything for you, you’re going to have to go with some broken down truck.” Cyclops attempted to irritate Aaron…

Attempt would be the correct word… I mean, what did Cyclops think Aaron did whenever she spoke to others, tickle their fancy?

He annoyed everyone around him to the point of assumed insanity; Cyclops didn’t quite know that though.

“Oh I’ll win… I have some insurance after all… namely Pegasus himself.” Mino and the others widened their eyes as Aaron smirked, pointing to Cyclops.

“Pegasus has heard that you’re entering the race. He’s hiring people to try and take you out during the race. Meanwhile, I’m an unknown who just got into this area, meaning that while I’ll race, you’ll be hindered by others during the race.” Cyclops growled, clenching his fist before stomping away, knowing that continuing the conversation was now pointless.

Mino glanced to Aaron who deflated the moment Cyclops was gone, frowning and sighing.

“Was that some more acting?” Mino asked, and Aaron nodded, looking to the pitch black Agera that sat behind him in wait.

“Yeah… I gave him a warning, while inciting him to do better in the race… I was half-honest there; the best acting is done like that after all.” Aaron said with a sigh, leaning on the supercar behind him, and Empusa noted that, with the jeans and boots which he was unnaturally quiet in, and the leather jacket, he looked the definition of a biker/racer…

“So, can you actually race?” Typhon asked as Aaron smirked, and Empusa prepared herself for either surprise or stupidity, it was always one of the two when Aaron smirked.

“Oh, I can. I’ve never been in one… legally, but I’ve escaped quite a few speeding tickets during my usual get-away, well, when I couldn’t escape on foot.” Aaron said, patting the car in waiting for the race… Mino noted that Aaron didn’t quite pull of the look, considering his ethnicity.

“Well, we’ll believe you. We’re entering the race as well, but only to go hold the Hydra off while you race.” Typhon added, and Aaron widened his eyes at the words of Typhon, and then smiled.

“Oh, you took the initiative? I’m glad; I was going to ask you to protect Cyclops and me during the race.” Aaron said with a glad look, knowing that Typhon and his group could handle a single Chained… probably, as long as none of them got poisoned.

“Alright… what do we do about the others?” Empusa asked as Aaron sighed, looking into the crowd of racers, noting that only ten cars, not counting the two their group would use, entered, everyone else stayed out of knowledge that their cars weren’t fast enough, or that the Hydra might kill them.

“Let the Hydra go after them, in fact, ruin their chances too if possible. The two to look out for is the Hennessey Venom GT over there, and the McLaren P1 GTR… both drivers, Alex and Ismail respectively, work for Pegasus.”

Their group noted the two and their drivers, Ismail of similar ethnicity to Aaron, with slightly darker skin and a confident look, wearing a shirt with the BMW logo on it.

Alex on the other hand was what the Nazi’s would have appreciated, blonde, blue eyed, tall and moderately built, chatting easily with his fellow fixer.

“How do you even know that?” Mino asked, looking to Aaron who smirked, hearing the call for the cars to move to the starting position.

“Oh, I went up to Pegasus and implied that I wanted to work for him during this race. Implied, not agreed. He thinks I work for him, those two do as well. They aren’t actually bad guys, it’s just… they work for the enemy currently.” Aaron noted, getting into his Agera SR, and then starting the engine with a roar as he leaned out.

“Oh, they are both good racers, so it’s unlikely the Hydra will stop them. If you can herd the Hydra towards the two of them, that will be brilliant. Don’t Stabilize the Hydra until the race is over though.” Aaron reminded as he moved back into his car, moving to the starting line as the three Chained got into the GT-R, Empusa at the wheel… Mino was too huge to be the driver and Typhon was too short.

Luckily for Empusa, she wasn’t entering the race to win, only to get them into position to protect Aaron and Cyclops while destroying the opposition and fighting the Hydra…

No big deal, as usual when it comes to Aaron.

Empusa sighed as she pulled up at the starting line, to her left and right were a Bugatti Veyron and a SSC Ultimate Aero respectively… not that she knew that, but Aaron took note.

“Alright then, we want a good race! That means you try to actually reach the finish line, and if you crash we’re going to be pissed! Mister Pegasus is awarding his first hover-car, the Hover-BMW M3, to the winner. That being said, let’s start the race!” the announcer spoke, notably from the side of the road, no one stupid enough to get on the tracks themselves.

“Start your engines, if you haven’t already!” he shouted and roars of engines replied, the man shaking his head before he continued.

“Alright, on your marks… get set…” Aaron glanced to Cyclops in his Bugatti Chiron to his side, a smirk on his face as he readied himself for the shifting.

“Go!” Some wheel-spin occurred for one or two racers, but predominantly all took off, their cars bursting to go as fast as they could, the roar of their engines accelerating the proof that the race had started.

Aaron found that he was not in pole-position, and he found that acceptable, he didn’t want to be first, but being last was even worse, though he knew that Empusa would be there, seeing as she couldn’t actually race.

Cyclops, on the other hand, was not happy with their position and began to try and overtake the 9ff GT9 in front of them, Aaron didn’t mind, he just had to make sure Cyclops didn’t go too far ahead of him.

Unfortunately for Aaron, he also had to pay attention to other bits of the competition, as the one right in front was a Pagani Huayra, and a familiar McLaren P1 GTR was overtaking it, a Hennessey Venom GT right behind it as the Huayra driver experienced the issue with the Huayra…

That it had acceleration that begged belief, but compared to the cars around, it only came about sixth in top speed around here.

Aaron smirked, remembering the track set up. The track was set in an oval pattern, if one just looks externally, but the track cut through the Hydra’s Nest, which in itself was on the border of Area 7 and 6. During this section, the road twisted and curved requiring tight cornering skills occasionally.

The car he was driving, his Koenigsegg, had the highest top speed, though the Chiron Cyclops was driving worried Aaron, he’d still be alright for the most part… it’s what will happen inside the Hydra Nest that worried him honestly, not so much the process of getting there.

Cyclops looked in his rear-view mirror to see that arrogant brat that Minotaur worked for, to get a feel for his racing style… then got pissed when he saw him leisurely putting on his music and driving with one hand on the steering wheel…

With Aaron, he was now enjoying some rare old school music, such as Panic at the Disco! Death of a Bachelor, Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur, and a few other rare clips he had in storage…

What, he liked calmer music rather than the techno music most listened to these days.

But yes, Aaron was driving in a strange manner, at least, to professionals, but to him it made a lot of sense, especially given his car.

See… driving with one hand on the wheel limited your turning options quite a bit, but leaving a hand on the shifter?

Your shifting speed would be just marginally faster than those around you, and when you considered that the Koenigsegg’s secondary selling point was its excellent shifting mechanisms, he was shifting through gears faster than those around him.

Aaron was smirking as he took a corner, cutting past a slightly older Koenigsegg, the CCR, shifting quickly causing him to be in a higher gear faster than those around him…

He didn’t need to be first, as that put pressure on you during a race… but it sure felt nice to know you could shift up to reach that point at any time. Cyclops said otherwise though, judging from how the top three were now Cyclops, Ismail and Alex, with a Bugatti Veyron between Aaron and the top four cars.

Aaron contemplated his options before shrugging, shifting up and easily using the Veyron in front of him to draft a bit, waiting for a good straight before he nudged the steering to the side, causing him to end up next to the car, now overtaking it due to the top speed of the Koenigsegg being higher.

There, now the four most important racers, in his opinion, were in front. The rest would be fodder for the Hydra if they were unlucky… if they were lucky, the GT-R in last place would release Chained to break their cars…

Wow this was just not their day.

Speaking of the GT-R, Empusa was driving fast, but not as fast as Aaron could with the GT-R… they had left the driving to him and Empusa had finally noticed how good Aaron actually was as a driver…

“Why are we even in the race, why didn’t we just go ahead and wait at the Hydra Nest?” Mino asked with some annoyance in his voice, Typhon taking the chance to sleep in the back-seat… he had been sleeping much more often now that Mino joined the group… Aaron considered that Typhon was a lazy person, and Mino joining meant that Typhon could finally relax a bit more, and so continued ignoring the two in front of the car…

Using his nanotech to latch himself to the backseats and not shake around was probably not what they were intended to be used for though…

“Because while obstructing the tracks is actually a viable option, for this race especially, it was frowned upon, so we going ahead and messing with a section of the course would not be looked upon lightly. At the least, we have to be a part of the race, to mess with the race, as strange as it is.” Empusa explained, getting a hum from Mino in acknowledgement… and a light snore from Typhon, even as she took a corner much more wildly than necessary… hey, she was in last place; she could drive as she pleased.

“So we’re going to have to reach Hydra’s Nest, then instead of continuing the race, drive around like maniacs actually looking for the beast?” Hypocritical statement from Mino aside, Empusa did agree with his tone…

The idea of rushing towards danger was a foreign one in just about every living beings mind. The exception seemed to be Aaron and, due to his influence, Typhon… though that could be his arrogance speaking.

“Yeah, that’s apparently the plan of our two fearless leaders.” Empusa would have liked to glance to the back seat to see Typhon, but instead focused on the road, she wasn’t too far behind, but she was most certainly last.

It wasn’t really noticeable until Aaron disappeared on them, but Typhon, in spite of not being a tactical thinker and being a semi-quiet person, he was a good ‘leader’ while Aaron was gone.

He had secured food… by beating up people where necessary, found food, and kept it safe, and Typhon found out about the nature of the track and figured that Aaron would likely not care about the Hydra and just have the three of them take care of it…

Then again, that had happened with Mino and Empusa herself, now that she thought about it… he refused to deal with the Chained beyond negotiations, mind-games and deals… and irritating them.

Oh that last bit…

Aaron just left problems he couldn’t deal with to them, and it was irritating, at least, to Empusa and Mino, and both complained as they, in other words Empusa, tried to keep up with the race…

Finally the complaints of the two caused a growl to sound from the backseat as Typhon sat up, leaning forward between the two seats, the inertia caused by the car turning not even fazing him as he spoke in annoyance.

“Will you two quit complaining about how good Aaron is as a leader?” Typhon’s words would cause a scratching record effect were there to be sound effect for that moment as the other Chained could barely believe the nonsense he just spoke.

“Check his temperature; he might’ve been infected by Aaron’s stupidity.” Empusa half joked as Typhon growled, a chain floating on the edge of her vision making her shut up.

“I said it that way on purpose. You’re complaining that Aaron keeps unloading things he can’t do onto us. What would have happened if he tried to do what we have to do?” Typhon asked as they turned once more, coming to a longer stretch of road, reminding them that, despite their conversation, they were in the middle of a race.

Typhon’s words still rung true, even with the ‘distraction’ of the race, as Empusa frowned in realization…

“Aaron would have died long ago if he had tried to fight like we do… and we can’t make explosives, plans, deals, or drive as well as he does, let alone that sorcery he pulls off with locks.” Typhon reminded the two as both Mino and Empusa’s expressions became neutral in thought.

“We each have our skills we are good at, whether we want to do such things or not. But for us to work at our best, it would be best to put people in their correct roles. It’s pointless trying to place a square peg into a round hole.” The analogy somehow worked, though Empusa snorted, noting that they were catching up to the pack slightly, due to the GT-R’s extreme top speed…

Which Aaron likely caused, considering it was higher than it was supposed to be…

“You’re right… though you shouldn’t talk to Aaron so much; he’s a bad influence on your younger mind.” Empusa joked slightly as Typhon huffed in the back seat, indignantly crossing his arms.

“I am not a child, despite my appearance you know.” Typhon replied as if a petulant child, only reinforcing the imagery in both the minds of Mino and Empusa.

“Oh, then how old are you anyway? Come on, share. I’m twenty two.” Empusa was surprisingly young for her knowledge on this place, though that was because she was placed inside at age seventeen, and Mino chuckled.

“Yeah, how old are you Typhon? I want to know how young the kid that beat this thirty seven years old man in a fight.” Mino asked as finally Typhon growled, the answer lost under the rumble of the engine.

“Sorry what was that?” Mino asked, actually genuine in his question despite the teasing nature of the previous questions as Typhon glared at the rear-mirror so that Empusa could also see his reaction.

“I…said…that I…am…twenty.” He ground out, and Empusa almost lost control of the car, Mino having to catch the steering wheel even as both of them wanted to just stare at Typhon in question… after that dropped bomb, they believed they deserved that reaction.

“What? How the heck are you twenty years old looking like that?” Mino shouted in shock as Empusa finally grabbed the wheel, and Typhon looked out of the window.

“I don’t want to talk about it… though I thought you two knew already… Aaron knows.” Typhon noted and Empusa allowed her eyes to roll at his response… of course the idiot genius knew.

“Still, all this time I thought you were a kid, but the youngest one in our group is actually our leader…” Mino awkwardly added, now realizing how irritating it must have been to be in your second decade of life but be treated as if you were a child.

“Well I know I look younger than I am, I can’t complain about your reaction… I can complain about how it is though.” Empusa politely tried not to swerve the car during that explanation… they were still in a race after all.

“Okay… did not expect that.” Empusa added as she took another corner, noting that it was now a long curved road for a while.

“Still, you’re twenty and Aaron’s only seventeen… hey, speaking of Aaron… how did he get that car anyway?” Mino asked as both Empusa and Typhon blinked in a moment of silence… then slowly realized exactly what Mino was talking about.

“Now that you ask does anyone know how would he have gotten a car like that anyway?” Empusa asked as Typhon looked lost in thought for a moment.

“You know, I also don’t know… I mean to get a car one would normally race for it or make a deal with Cyclops or some other car dealer… but Aaron would be blacklisted by most dealers after his conversation with Cyclops…” Mino added as Typhon finally sighed and shrugged.

“Whatever… let’s just take it as Aaron doing some miracle again… besides, who would have known that he was this good of a driver anyway?” Typhon added and the other two Chained agreed, looking into the distance they could see the people in front taking a corner, and in fourth place a black Koenigsegg practically drifting around the corner following them…

“…I feel ashamed to say that he’s the youngest of us when he’s so talented.” Mino added as Empusa agreed, pointedly not caring what Typhon thought, as while he was twenty, he was still the second youngest.

Back with Aaron, he was having a lot of fun, despite the serious nature of the race, as he maintained his speed, going for efficiency in the fact that he did not go faster than necessary, as if he went to fast, a corner would be difficult to take, but if he went to slow he would lose obviously…

Once more, he was thankful for the quick gear shifting available to the Koenigsegg, it was perfect for his driving style… namely, the one where he shifts a lot.

His driving style was maintained by accurate speed control. If he couldn’t control his speed then he didn’t deserve to be a racer.

There were, of course, many different styles of racing, as Ismail, who was in front, was clearly gunning it and yet, when he took a corner it was a very accurate cornering… it showed that he was using his brakes a lot.

Then Alex, who stayed behind Ismail, seemed to keep his Hennessy Venom in the slightly slower speed than the McLaren in front of him, mimicking the driving style of Ismail, though Aaron noted that he used his brakes less due to his slightly lower speed…

Then one would notice Cyclops. Aaron truly felt that his driving style was amazing…

It was, in a word, domineering.

No matter how fast Alex or Ismail would go, how they would take a corner, Cyclops would be right behind them, constantly trying to overtake them as if hungry for the victory…

It made Aaron worried that he might overextend and bite off more than he could chew… preventing that, was why Aaron was here though.

A corner came up as Aaron smirked, quick to shift to a much lower gear, which would normally be suicidal in a race between practical hyper-cars… though in this era… they were kind of normal speed wise. In this moment though, it was perfect.

Because Aaron just pressed the accelerator in and suddenly sliding began to occur, allowing him to drift around the corner in chase even as, due to the angle of his drift, he began accelerating. By shifting up, his car stabilized and he was once more right behind Cyclops and the others.

Accelerator drifting was a thing actually, and it was one that Aaron enjoyed trying, as it near completely erased the need for brakes at all…

And considering he had studied the track, or at least a map of it, he knew what speed he had to come into which corner with, and because of that, he was keeping up with the three in front of him with ease…

Overtaking them, now that would be harder… but not impossible… the one Aaron was most worried about overtaking was actually Cyclops, as he had the most ‘violent’ racer in the race currently…

Aaron wasn’t too worried about that though, seeing as he did have a plan for the race beyond ‘drive fast, and enjoy’… despite what Typhon and the others might think.

He couldn’t do anything involving his plan just yet… but when the scenery started swapping from dreary buildings to moss covered buildings, Aaron couldn’t help but smirk, even as he began to feel a bit more nervous…

Little by little, they were entering the lair of the hydra… he had researched the Chained, and had found that it was three headed, each with different personalities, and while it wasn’t as big as Mino used to be, it was big…

And insane, given that it ate people it found… though Aaron wasn’t so sure it was one Chained… given that it had three heads, thus, three brains…

Aaron couldn’t check that out just yet so it was pointless to consider. All he knew was that it was during this section that Typhon and the others had to work the hardest, to distract and possibly take down the Hydra…

Aaron would also be busy during this section though, as he gripped the steering wheel tightly, knowing that the map couldn’t quite be trusted here, he held the steering wheel with both hands, knowing that his style of racing only really worked when he completely knew what was about to happen…

And from this point onwards, he wouldn’t be entirely sure…

“You bastard!” for instance, a person trying to jump onto the track to mess with Aaron’s race, not that he’d let the person mess with him… it was that person’s fault for racing for pink slips when he had such a good car…

That reminded Aaron of how he even got this car in the first place… see, what he had done was make a deal with a person with a lower end car and bad abilities as a racer, after finding such a person, that he would race with that person’s car to get a new one.

Then he would keep upgrading using this method, and any cars he didn’t need, would be handed to the owner of the first car.

Due to that, the other guy now had ten cars, and Aaron got a Koenigsegg with nothing but time and skill…

Then again, the guy who Aaron had just swerved past was an idiot even though he had a good car… Aaron heard a crash a while back in the distance, and figured that someone must have knocked the idiot that Aaron had dodged… poor guy.

Then, in front of Aaron and the three in front of him, a massive shape dropped, and when Aaron noted the shadow of the shape, possessing three long necks and three heads, he had a nervous smirk…

Oh, they were prepared for the Hydra, mentally… it was a whole different thing to see it, let alone know that it had forgone going after the slower racers to attack them…

With a massive hissing sound, the three heads glared at the four cars coming on, a tail swishing behind it as its sickly green scales gleamed in the light, six stumpy legs on the ground as it stomped… despite being of a lower height than Mino was, it was technically bigger…

The Hydra gave a hissing shriek even as the four racers all took their own paths around it, knowing that, despite its girth, it couldn’t stop them if they stayed far to either side of it, and Aaron looked to his rear-view mirror… and when he saw the Nissan GT-R approaching, the other cars all either reversing or being attacked by the Hydra, Aaron finally allowed his smirk to be natural instead of forced.

“Yes, everything is set up… time to get the next part for the key… two birds with one stone is fun after all… That being said, I wonder why I’m talking to myself.” Aaron voiced aloud as he chuckled, drifting around a corner as a new song came on, another song from Panic At The Disco!... namely, Death of a Bachelor.

“Khul Ja.” Aaron didn’t finish his statement, knowing that now was not the time, as he shifted up, catching up to his fellow racers… The doors were opening, but they weren’t there yet.