Villain: The Play of Destiny

"Keith, you must save us!" James limped his way up to him and tightly hugged him. "I am so glad you are here..." 

He frowned when he felt his shirt getting wet and lightly pushed the plump boy away. 

"Stop crying like a child." He sighed as everyone around them started laughing. "So, what's the situation?" He asked as he lightly hugged Julian and Gareth in a greeting. 

"I lost 2 Million Neris!" James immediately whined. 

"Of course, you did." He shook his head and then looked at the tall guy with a goatee. "Eric?"

"It was the same group from Delvon that we were up against a few weeks ago. The guy that Julian beat has brought a strong team, and both the drivers are just as skilled as him." 

"What's his name?" 

"Adrian Francis and the other two drivers on his team are Felix and Paul," Eric informed him. 

"Francis?" Keith frowned. 

"You know him?" Julian raised his brow and asked. 

"He's the son of an Underworld Don, Augustian Francis, who entered the Delvon City a few years ago." 

"Oh." The blonde boy casually shrugged, not impressed, but the other guys had different reactions. 

"Forget about it, I don't need my money back." James declared and shook his head. "Who knows what he might do if his screws loosen some more?" 

"Scared?" Keith chuckled at him.

"I have heard things about Don Francis, and he's a mad dog." The plump boy seriously said to him. "Unlike you, he won't hesitate to come after me if I infuriate him." 

"Well, you can stay out of the fray if you want." He shrugged and did not say anything to comfort him. "Is there anything more?" He turned to Eric and asked. 

"Lots of teams have come from the nearby cities, and there are some elite names." The lanky boy sighed. "Even that Adrian Francis and his team don't stand a chance against them. Also, the Falken are here." 

"The younger one?" 

"Both. Christian is here too." 

Now, this was a surprise. As far as he remembered, the older Falken was not supposed to be here tonight.

"They are participating?" He curiously asked. 

"I believe so." Eric nodded to him. 

Before Keith could ask for details, everyone suddenly turned to the approaching roars of the engines on the freeway, which was right under the bridge they were standing on. 

"Oh, no..." They all heard Julian sigh. 

"That's Miss Grayson in the Limited 812 Superfast!" James excitedly said when he saw the car in the lead racing down the road, followed closely by a black Zonda 760RS. 

"And that's the ride of Christian," Eric added, pointing at the black Pagani.

"Mom's going to kill me." Julian depressedly said as the two cars passed right under them. 

The team immediately got to work and opened their cellphones, switching on the live telecast of Rebecca's race. 

"Oh my God!" James exclaimed when he looked at the bet Rebecca and Christian placed on this private race. "25 Million?!" 

"Yeah, she's definitely going to kill me." Julian sighed again but kept his eyes on the screen. 

"She's losing." Keith lightly smiled when the Pagani slowly started gaining on the Ferrari at the last straight stretch of the track. He could imagine how upset Rebecca was going to be, and it was going to be fun to see her antics.

"Damn it!" James sighed when the race ended in Rebecca's loss. "It was so close!" He sighed again and then looked at the stats of the race before taking in a sharp breath. 

Both the cars had hit the top speed of over 330 Km/h, which was simply insane. 

"Your sister is brilliant!" He sincerely said to Julian. "Unfortunately, that guy driving Christian's car is just as brilliant. And well, it's a Pagani..." 

"No worries." Julian smiled. "I am just glad that she is safe." 

Keith walked away from the boys to where Kiara, Ingrid, and Yingying were watching the ongoing events on a tablet. 

"Brother!" The blue-eyed girl excitedly smiled at him. "Did you watch Rebecca's race?" 

"Just did." He nodded. 

"She's brilliant!" There was a sly smile on her lips as she commented. 

"I know." He said and sat by her side, taking a look at all the official events of the night and memorising the routes for each event. 

"What's the plan?" Julian approached them and asked, and right behind him were the rest of their friends. 

"Want to Team up?" Keith flashed a smile. 

"Sure." Julian grinned back at him.

"Great!" James excitedly nodded. "I am sure you guys can make it to the top 3 of the Double Lap." 

"We are winning it, James." Keith confidently said. "Also, Julian isn't my only partner for the Double Lap." He said to the surprise of everyone and then turned to look at the Ferrari that was approaching them. 

He could not help his smile when he watched the golden blonde exit the car and seriously walk towards them, followed by her Shadow, who was in the passenger seat. 

"Want to Team Up?" He straightforwardly asked before she could say anything. 

Rebecca surprisedly looked at him, and then brightly smiled, her dissatisfaction at her loss already waning. 

"Sure." She nodded her head, ignored her little brother who was glaring at her and walked over to Kiara. "We meet again, Miss Angelini." She politely greeted the young girl.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Grayson." Kiara smiled back at her and shook her hand. "You are fast!" 

"But I was not fast enough." The blonde lightly said.

"Well, since Keith is on your Team now, you will be winning." The blue-eyed girl confidently said, which made everyone around them smile at her words. 

"Yes!" James enthusiastically nodded his head. "So our Team is hitting the Game Laps too?!" 

"That's the plan, but we are only taking 3 cars to the Game Laps," Keith informed him. "I, Rebecca, and Julian will be driving." 

"Come on!" James voiced his dissatisfaction. "Take me to the Game Laps! I will do the first lap and then the three of you can cover for me in the next three." 

"No thanks. Besides, you are in no shape to drive." Julian immediately shot him down and pointed at his injured ankle. And then he turned to his sister. "You said you were going to grab something to eat." 

"The haughty boy found me at the stall, somehow." She rolled her eyes in displeasure. "And one thing led to another, and we ended up facing off. Unfortunately, he made his guard drive the car." 

"Was he asking for a date?" Keith smiled and asked. 

"What else." She shrugged and sighed. "I owe him one now." 

"Ouch." He chuckled, but her little brother frowned. 

"You don't plan on going, do you?" Julian asked. 

"Do I have a choice?" She put on a pitiful front before fluttering her eyes at Keith. "Can you help me out of it?" She hopefully asked. 

"Even if I don't help you, I am sure you can find a way out of it, Miss Grayson." He lightly smiled at her. 

No one could make Rebecca do something she did not want to do, and Keith knew very well that she never put the Heir of Falken Family in her eyes. It was the reason why the Grayson never agreed to a wedding between the two when the Falken approached them a few years ago. 

"But I want you to help me." She playfully said. 

"You just want to pit him against me." He bared her intentions and then smiled some more when Rebecca grinned at him. "Alright." He nodded his head. 

"Aww... My Knight in the Shining Armor!" She sweetly said, lovingly looking at him, making everyone around them curious about their relationship. 

"I am no knight." He chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, let's register our Team." 

"I will do it." James excitedly said and grabbed a Tablet before working on it. 

"You are using your Aston Mastin?" Eric, who was helping James, raised his head and asked Keith. 

"Yes." Keith nodded his head. 

"You sure?" James frowned. "You can take Eric's SVJ or my Senna if you want... There are lots of powerful cars here tonight, Keith. The Falken have brought only Paganis. They have the finest lineup." 

"Don't worry about it," Keith assured him. "I will use my car for the Laps at the start, and then, if someone breaks our time and I can't pull it, I can borrow Rebecca's Limited 812, or Julian's CCX. They can match all the cars here. Also, don't all teams have a spot for a reserve car?" 

"Put Gareth's Sian on the Reserve spot." Julian nodded to his words and told James. 

"That will be perfect!" Eric nodded his head in agreement. "It will also be helpful in stand-off races." 

"We are Team 52." James registered them and smiled at Keith before handing him the tablet. "We are hitting the Laps first?" 

"Yup!" He brightly smiled and applied for the Game Laps right away. "Get ready, we are up in 20 Minutes." He informed Rebecca and Julian. 

"I am going first," Rebecca announced. 

Both Julian and Keith sighed at her words and smiled wryly at each other. 

Since there were only three people on their team, the first to go would have to take the fourth lap as well. She clearly did it to have some more fun.

Everyone got into their cars and headed towards the starting point, which was a couple of minutes away. 

The place was jam-packed with people, and there were projectors set up, displaying the Tables of the Offical Events as well as the betting odds for those who wished to gamble. 

On the screen dedicated to the Game Lap, their Team's name was displayed, and there was a table that displayed the details of the current Time-Holders of the event. 

{1st: Team 21. Time: 14m 22s. Bet: 5 Million Nr. Winner's Pot: 13 Million Nr.} 

The Game Lap event consisted of four 3.6 Km long Laps, which were filled with some complicated turns, but the time set by Team 21 could only be considered decent. The heavyweights were yet to go at it, and most were waiting for the Winner's Pot to get heavier before giving it a go. 

Five minutes before their Team was up, the place was cleared for them, and both Julian and Keith parked their cars at the points that marked their turns. Rebecca's car was parked at the starting line, and the management was doing the last-minute inspections and connecting the GPS of their cars to their servers to monitor the progress. 

Her car was ready to go before the 90s countdown started, and both Rebecca and Marianne took their seats. 

{5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!} 

The green light lit up, and the Limited Edition 812 Superfast roared into life. 

Everyone kept their eyes on the screen that displayed the timer and the progress of the car on a map, and to the surprise of the crowd, Rebecca was just too good. 

As soon as the timer hit 2 Minutes, Julian started revving his engine. 

Rebecca reached the finish line, clocking 2m 15s, and Julian shot off right away, making people cheer in excitement at their perfect coordination. 

Keith smiled when he watched the progress of Julian on the screen. Everything was fine, and Julian was deliberately holding back a little as they had planned. 

Rebecca soon returned to the starting position, taking the spot for the 4th Lap, and calmly waited for her turn. 

"Let's go!" As soon as Julian returned and reached the finish line, clocking at 2m 41s, Kiara excitedly called out, and then laughed heartily when the throttle hit her, making her sink back into her seat. 

Since the plan was to bait more people to challenge their time, Keith did not give it his all and just pulled on a decent time of 2m 52s. And it was good enough.

Rebecca too took it easy in the last lap, clocking at 2m 40s. And they managed to win their Bet and entered the table at the top spot. 

{1st: Team 52. Time: 10m 28s. Bet: 10 Million Nr. Winner's Pot: 18 Million Nr.} 

Team 21, who were now at the 2nd Spot, were given 15 minutes to decide if they wanted to use the free chance to defend their title, but they gracefully admitted their defeat and decided not to take on Keith's Team for the 1st Position, saving their chance to defend a future TOP 5 spot.

However, now that the participation bet had touched the 10 Million mark, the heavyweights were ready to enter the battle. 

And they did not have to wait long before a Team challenged them for the Top Spot, raising the Winner's Pot to 28 Million Nr by entering their 10 Million Nr Bet, which they lost by falling 13 seconds short.

Another Team challenged them soon after, and they too fell short by 20 seconds, which resulted in internal strife within their Team, where the management had to step in. 

30 minutes later, a third team challenged them for the top spot, only to fall short by a heart-wrenching 3 seconds. 

{1st: Team 52. Time: 10m 28s. Bet: 10 Million Nr. Winner's Pot: 48 Million Nr.}

"Should we go grab something to eat?" Julian asked after no one challenged them in the last thirty minutes. 

He was quite hungry since they had not had dinner yet, and for him, it had been a long day.

"I guess.." Keith shrugged and agreed. 

"Wait!" Eric suddenly stopped them and pointed at the screen, which displayed a new challenger for their top spot. 

It was Team 75 from the City of Rosewich, and what was interesting was that they all had Mclaren 720s in their lineup, a car quite suited for the Game Lap.

"We have 30 minutes before they start, let's grab something to eat." Rebecca did not want to wait and already started walking towards her car, pulling her younger brother along with her.

"She really cares about Julian." Gareth chuckled and said, which made everyone smile. 

"I am hungry too. Let's go." Keith grabbed Kiara and followed the Grayson siblings to the food trucks that were set up for the event.

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