Murder Race

BLITZ Team: Murder Race is the fifth episode of the first season of BLITZ Team, and is a static-panel art project illustrated by RampGroovesFighter.

## Synopsis

The annual Rivvian Helix 500 race is coming to town, but Kurt has other plans! Apparently, there's a certain driver in the race whose car has been sought after by Kurt for many years...

## Plot

Jacky has just finished repairing the Grenadier and has pulled it out of the garage, when Barton pulls up in the Double-Iron right behind him. Jacky tells Barton to get out of the way, as he is blocking Jacky's exit path. Barton gets out of the Double-Iron and give Jacky a sheet of paper with some handwriting on it. After Jacky reads it, his face lights up. According to the piece of paper, Barton's application as a racing driver in the upcoming Rivvian Helix 500 race has been processed and accepted, and he is to be featured in the race. Jacky stops jumping up and down and realizes Barton needs a car for the race, as the rules specify that all cars taking part in the race need to be custom built.

Jacky opens a garage door in his private parking building, revealing a small, wooden racing car which he built for his first race. Despite being dusty, the car is in pristine condition, but Barton says this race is a Class A race, and would be too dangerous for a Class C car like Jacky's wooden example. Jacky agrees to this, pats the old car, and says maybe he'll bring it to the race later. Barton takes an old chassis out of the backyard, before Jacky asks what he's doing. Barton replies he is building a car and asks Jacky for help. Jacky pulls out his BLITZ Crystal and they get to work.

When they're done, they step back, covered in soot and oil. In front of them stands a small, metallic silver car with four-spoke wheels. Jacky comments that this is a machine that's truly race-worthy. Barton says it isn't quite ready yet, and that they still have to test it to make sure it works well. Jacky asks how he plans to do that, and Barton says he will take the car and a few fighters out to the practice track, and Jacky starts to hop with excitement. Barton says Jacky has the choice of either driving his wooden car for the practice run or driving the Grenadier. Jacky says that since the Grenadier still needs to be road-tested since he repaired it, he'd like the challenge of driving both vehicles, one after the other.

Meanwhile, Kurt and his team have just finished building their own racing car, a sleek, black and red supercar. Kurt says he will name it the B.A.D. Eclipse. Gren groans at Kurt's usual, entitled attitude, and says it's a good idea to make sure the car works well before the race. Kurt agrees, saying it will good of himself to think of that, before Gren throws the keys at him and opens the garage door. Kurt drives the car into B.A.D.'s personal racing track, and Kurt summons the Everam, the Bison, and several Drones to drive on the track with him. A grunt waves the flag and the vehicles line up in front of the line and charge down the speedway.

The episode shows several panels, alternating between Barton and Jacky and Kurt and Gren, as the song "Freefall" plays. Barton is driving the small racing car down the strip when Jacky overtakes him in the Grenadier. Barton ducks in behind him and Felicia pulls in from behind with the Spider. The threesome put on the brakes and powerslide around the curve. Back at B.A.D., Kurt has just finished leaving the corner, and he pursues the Everam into the next corner. He gets in too close, and the Everam slides off into the sand. Gren and two grunts rush to dig the Everam's front tires out of the sand trap. Back at ASSD, Barton pulls ahead of the Grenadier, and Jacky attempts to bypass but gets held up by Felicia. Barton is too distracted by Jacky and Felicia to notice Ward rushing by in the Scarab. Barton focuses his attention on Ward, calling him a sucker playfully but admitting Ward's rush was "pretty damn good." Back at B.A.D., Kurt rushes down the track, overtaking the Bison. He flies into the loops, but when he comes out, he feels dizzy and has to pull over. While he recuperates, the Bison and a Drone rush by, and Kurt angrily slaps his steering wheel and pulls out, right in front of the Everam.

After the track test, Barton and Jacky are walking away from the practice track, and Jacky says he can't wait to see the car perform in the race, which is to be held the next day. Barton says he is bringing his Double-Iron to the race tomorrow as his personal car, but he says he won't race with the Double Iron, since, as it has weapons, it doesn't legally qualify for the race. Barton says he has never driven a machine quite like their new racing car. Jacky says he wonders what they'll name it, but Barton stops him, saying the car "hasn't earned a name yet."

The day of the race comes, and the Helix is packed with people. Barton's race team has appeared, and his Double-Iron and their team hauler sit in the garage next to the pit. Kylee gets her headset on and says she's ready to be the spotter, and the cadets get ready to be the team's pit crew. Barton says he will be the crew chief, and Jacky is to be the driver. Jacky asks why Barton would want him to drive, and Barton says since he's so eager to give the car a name, he needs to drive it first.

During the race, Jacky is doing the pace laps when Kurt appears at the back of the pack. Barton scoffs at Kramer, saying Kurt is a "lazy-ass bastard" who didn't show up for qualifying, so the race officials put him at the rear end of the pack. Jacky braces himself for the race, and as the race begins, Jacky stomps on the gas. As he passes back through the main stretch, he looks at his little wooden car through the window of his team hauler, and wishes he could have driven it in the race instead.

It is now lap 148 of the 500-lap race, and so far things have been uneventful. Jacky is now in fourth place, having started in 11th. Kurt has steadily made his way through the pack. He pulls up next to Jacky, and rolls down his window, saying he's back, and ready to take "what's rightfully his." Kurt door-slams Jacky, knocking him against the wall. Barton puts down his headset and runs to find the race officials. Seconds later, he pulls out into the pack with the Double-Iron as they head across the finish line. Kurt continues to challenge Jacky, until Jacky fights back, slamming the brakes suddenly as Kurt tries to door-slam him again and ends up hitting the wall. Kurt comes back again and knocks Jacky into the infield, accidentally bumping the rear end of the car in front of him. The other racers take high to avoid the ruckus, and Barton weaves his way through the pack in the Double-Iron.

Kurt sees Barton, and gets ready for a fight. He rolls down his window, saying he thought Barton would come, and that his vehicle's Energy weapons will be useless as Kurt fitted his car with a charge bumper. Barton growls, and Kurt just says it wasn't against the rules and speeds away cackling. Barton charges forward after him, as Jacky manages to regain his traction and stomps on the pedal. The small silver racing car surges forward.

It is now lap 205, and Barton has still not managed to catch Kurt, who now has second place behind a small, sleek, pink racing car. Kurt gets ready to take this car out when Jacky merges right suddenly, door-slamming Kurt as both of them fly off the track and into the infield. Barton pulls off to help, and Kurt throws his helmet at Jacky, saying he ruined his plan again. Kurt and Jacky begin fighting in the field, before Barton pulls Kurt back and shoves him into the Double-Iron.

After the fight, Barton looks at the car he and Jacky built together, which has significant damage. Barton shakes his head and explains that he is going to have to remove the car from the race, and Jacky complains that he doesn't want the car to go, after what they went through to put the car together. Barton shakes his head, then tells Jacky to come back to the pits with him.

At pit lane, Barton and Jacky go to the back of the hauler. Barton says he knew Jacky would want to try driving a car that, by race standards, was wrecked. He pulls out a key, unlocks the trailer, and lets the door fall. Inside is Jacky's small, wooden car, which appears to have been reinforced with steel parts. Barton explains that he brought Jacky's car instead, in order to use it in the race instead, and that he has already registered it as the team's backup car. Jacky's face lights up as Barton hands him the key. Barton proceeds to ask what they'll name the fallen race car, and Jacky says he wants to name it the "Silver Soldier" since it fought to help ASSD apprehend Kurt Kramer. Barton says he'll get the team to work on repairing the Silver Soldier while Jacky drives his wooden car in the race.

The episode ends with Barton giving Jacky a thumbs-up as he passes the finish-line in front of the pack.

## Trivia

* The cars in this episode were almost all designed by RampGroovesFighter, and the designs were finalized and given specs by members of the Ridge Racer: Ryan Barton team.
* As usual, RampGroovesFighter has given hints to other paths the final battle might've taken.
	+ If Kurt had been even one second farther behind the pink car, the orange and yellow cars trailing Kurt at the time would've been taken out also.
	+ If Barton had to chase Kurt Kramer to the final lap, like Kramer wanted (according to RthoNightshade07), the Double-Iron would've run out of fuel.
	+ If Kylee had helped Barton chase down Kurt, she would've driven the Spider.
	+ If there had been a wreck during the race, the Double-Iron would've suffered damage, but not enough to put it out of action.
* RampGroovesFighter has said that none of the Rivvian Helix 500 cars are meant for high-speed battle like most of BLITZ Team's vehicles, but they can be used for a short time in an emergency situation.
	+ This can be used to explain why the Silver Soldier was wrecked during the fight.