A Tale of Two Cars Chapter 2

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. We decided that those of us going out to find the two rogue cars would meet in the back parking area of the apartment complex around noonish. Sonia said she would be waiting for us when we got there. We had also decided that Cindy and Sonia were going to ride with Reina, and me and Kelly, along with Natsumi, who I called after Tina requested that someone with a license come along.

I was a bit surprised when Natsumi showed up two full hours before we were going to head out. "So... you think you're ready to do this?" I asked, looked at the leather gloves Natsumi was putting on. "Oh yeah. I've got a score to settle with that Firebird" Natsumi said. "I still don't understand why Tina didn't want me to drive" Kelly said, looking a bit sad. "Aw, it's nothing like that Kelly. I'm sure Tina would love to let you drive her" I said, sitting down on the couch next to Kelly and putting my arm around her. "Then why won't she let me?" Kelly asked. "Well, it's a bit tough to explain. See, even if you know how to drive a car, it's against the law to drive one if you don't have a special license" I explained. Natsumi nodded and took out her driver's license, handing it to Kelly. "It's not that she doesn't want to let you drive, it's just that you don't have a license, and if the police saw that you were driving without one, you would get in big trouble, and Tina just doesn't want that" Natsumi said. I nodded. "That, and it's against the law to drive the way you do would in a racing game like at the arcade. You've crashed into stuff in those games, right?" I asked. Kelly nodded. "A few times..." she said. "Well, if you crash a car in a video game, no one is actually hurt because it's just a video game, but in real life, crashing a car like that can get you and others seriously hurt. Tina just doesn't want you to hurt" I added. Kelly nodded. "I think I see what you mean now" Kelly said, cheering up a bit.

Natsumi hung out with us for the remaining hours until it was time to go meet with everyone. As we walked out to the back parking area, we were greeted by a honk from a horn of a pink VW beetle. Sonia was waving at us from out the window and pulled forward a bit and parked. Sonia shut off the engine and stepped out of the car holding her guitar. Lyra materialized next to her a moment later before they came over to us.

"Hey guys. Ready to rock?" Lyra asked, smiling. I nodded. Once the others get here we'll be all set" I said. "I brought a few battle cards just in case this cold patch idea doesn't work" Sonia said, holding up a hand with six battle cards. "It should work. It always works with Tina and Reina, so why not this girl?" Natsumi asked. "She's right, but it never hurts to have a plan B. Nice gloves by the way" Lyra said, looking to Natsumi's hands. "I've been wondering about those..." Sonia said. Natsumi cracked her knuckles. "That Firebird girl outran me last time, but this time she's mine" Natsumi said. "Geez, you really took that personally, didn't you?" I asked.

"I can appreciate your determination Natsumi, and I'm willing to let you drive, but I want to remind you now that I can take over at any point, and I will if you start driving like a maniac, got it?" Tina said before Natsumi could respond to Sonia. Cindy, Reina, and Alice were all behind her. Natsumi nodded. "Yes ma'am" Natsumi said. "Okay then. You'll know the car when you see her, right?" Tina asked. "Yeah. I'll know her when I see her" Natsumi said, nodding.

Alice clapped her hands together to get our attention. "Okay. Now that we're all here, let's do this" Alice said, reaching into her pocket and handing Sonia a small plastic case. "These are the cold patches you'll need to get her to change back to her regular form. Peel the waxpaper and stick the patch anywhere on or in her. One patch will be more than enough" Alice said. Sonia nodded. "Got it. Leave it to me" Sonia said, slipping the case in her pocket.

"Think you could give me a hand here?" Reina asked, looking to Cindy. Cindy nodded. "Sure. It about to get hot" Cindy said as she waved hand to begin heating a pocket of air in front of Reina. "Hey, good thinking. Kevin? Would you be so kind?" Tina asked, winking at me. I nodded and imitated Cindy's action, heating air around Tina. Both girls hands then inflated into tires, and both Tina and Reina got down on all fours as they began to change.

Within seconds, Tina and Reina had completed changing into their car forms; a blue Porsche coupe and a light blue TVR Griffith 500. Both girls then opened their doors so we could get in.
"You going to be okay if I do the driving Cindy?" Reina asked as she buckled her in. Cindy nodded. "Sure, but if this turns into some kind of chase, let me take over, alright?" she said. "Got it. You sure you can handle driving like that though" Reina asked. "Don't you worry. You of all people should know there's more to me than meets the eye" Cindy said, winking. "Why does that just make me worry more?" Reina mumbled as she started her engine.

Sonia took a deep breathe before holding her guitar up in the air. "Here we go. EM WAVE CHANGE! SONIA ON AIR!" She called out. A light shot up to the sky from her guitar and came back down, enveloping  Sonia in ribbons of bright pink light. When the ribbons dispersed, Sonia's hair had changed from pink to blonde, and she was now a wearing pink helmet with a small heart on the front along with a light blue vizor over her eyes, and her standard pink sweatshirt had transformed in to a pink dress in two white stripes going down it along with a heart emblem, and her guitar had changed from it's normal form to a blue heart shaped guitar with a face at the top.

Sonia stretched a bit before walking over to Reina. "I'm never gonna get tired of doing that" she laughed, sitting down in Reina's passenger seat. "But do you need to yell it?" Reina asked as she closed her other door and buckled Sonia in. "Makes it more dramatic" Lyra replied.

Meanwhile, Tina moved her seat forward to allow Kelly to climb in the back before moving it back to let Natsumi sit down in the driver's seat. "Are the gloves really necessary, Natsumi?" Tina asked as I got in and sat down in her passenger seat. "Of course they are. I want this girl to know I'm serious" Natsumi said. "Whatever. We're not going to look for her so we can race her you know" Tina sighed and she buckled us all in and started her engine. Natsumi shrugged. With both cars loaded, both groups pulled out of the parking area and drove off in two separate directions.

To Be Continued...