Black Flag

**Do not edit ANYTHING without my permission.**

**This is an extended version.**

**Prompt: Sometimes, people don’t change, and their true colors show that.**

27-year-old Kellia Cevep sped around the track, ignoring the warning signs that she was going way too fast for her body to handle. "Cevep, slow down!" cried her friend, "Don't crash again!"

"I have to beat him!" she cried, "Bera, I don't wanna lose again!"

The white racecar looked at her as she caught up with Kellia. "Cevep, if you crash too hard, you could be killed! Slow down a little!"

"No, I won't," the slightly smaller car insisted.

"Don't tempt fate, you know better than that!"

"Shut up," Kellia said, increasing her speed a little. The nerve-wracking feeling of losing control increased, but she pressed on.

She swerved past Narel Ven, smirking at him. The gray car rolled his eyes, going fast, but keeping a healthy pace. Narel noticed her tires ready to give out. "You're going to get yourself-!"

"Shut up, Ven!"

The car looked away. "I tried to warn you," he muttered.

Kellia's front tires lost grip and she nearly crashed into the wall with enough force to kill a non-armored Carian. She swore, gaining enough control to not crash fatally and getting across the finish line.

The referee sighed quietly. "Remember that if you push yourself too much, you could get killed!"

The audience filed out. The eight racers on the track went to the Socializing Square. Kellia's brother drove over to her. "Is it just me, or did you get faster?"

"Yes, but I'm also pushing myself," she replied.

He shook his front. "Oh, Kellia..."

"I want to beat Ven, he's much faster than I am."

"Why do you want to beat him so much? He just seems to want to talk to you and you're half killing yourself over trying to beat him!"

"I don't know, he's faster than me and I don't like it, I guess," she replied.

"If your pride kills you, we'll be devastated. You do know that... Right?"

Kellia took a deep breath. "Yes, Willu, I do know that."

Ven drove up to her. "Hi."

“Go away,” she said in an annoyed tone.

The slightly younger car’s pale green eyes flashed with anger. “Why do you hate me so much!?” He shouted, “I don’t understand!”

“I don’t hate you, have I crashed you into the wall!? No!” She shouted back.

He drove to a corner. “Stingy,” Ven muttered. Her brother glared at Kellia and drove toward him.

Her brother talked to Ven. The gray car's voice seemed sad from what Kellia could hear.

It tugged on her conscience.

Willu went to talk to someone who had a side job as an author and looked increasingly concerned by her choice of conversation; Torturing someone to death. Of course, this was a character in one story, but still, it was creepy.

Graphic details were now being described. He quickly left and talked to someone else.

A black, sleek car, incredibly sassy, stared at her brother, for whatever reason. The car finally spoke, after a good minute of freaking out Willu, and Kellia. “W. Cevep, wanna race me?”

“Sure,” He sighed, “Just don’t crash into me, please.”

“Like I’m gonna,” the older car scoffed, “You’re not Haner,” he teased.

“Poor car,” Willu muttered, looking at the supervisor. The 48-year-old truck nodded, opening the door for Willu and the black car.

Haner scowled. “Very funny, Napok,” she said.

Ven took out his pocketknife and sharpened it. The backstory of why he had the knife was interesting, to say the least.

The car was a teleporter. He often got teleported to random planets. Due to the nature of certain races and people groups, there have been many murder attempts. The car's paranoia often affected him in basic stuff of racing and life, like he didn't take having someone directly behind him well. The other league members generally avoided this… except the author, she loved scaring people, and especially the traumatized ones.

The main reason why Kellia disliked her. She was also incredibly rude and her sense of humor was questionable at best.

The supervisor took notice of the pocketknife and told Ven to put it away. The 25-year-old opened his grille to say something, but sighed and put it away.

He dashed a look at the author. She caught it and smirked, going behind him, bumping him from behind.

He pulled his pocketknife on reflex, and the supervisor sighed, taking the tiny knife from him temporarily. "Just so you don't accidentally stab anyone, I'm gonna give this back when you leave."

The car nodded, looking like he wanted to complain. The author slapped Ven and glared at him.

The two did not get along at all. Ven tried to be nice to her, but the rude car always pushed his limits.

"L- Behkia, please leave," the supervisor said.

"Did you just almost say my first name!?" She shouted angrily, "I'm gonna kill you off in a story!"

He sighed. "As long as it's not real life. Now OUT."

She left angrily. Everyone seemed relieved at that. They didn’t exactly want to hear jokes about killing or torturing racers. The supervisor was done with her crap.

"I'm gonna kill her," Ven muttered. He went to talk to his friend.

Kellia glanced at her crush and headed over to him. "Hi, Varin!"

The car looked at her. "Hello. What do you want to talk about? Not torture," he half joked.

She laughed. "I don't like to talk about violence," she said, "The latest book is more like it."

"Ah… So what IS the latest book? I don't read much."

She thought about it. "Problems That Don't Get Solved," she replied.

"Sounds… Interesting. What's it about?"

"Four protagonists, four different extremely complex problems and how they deal with them."

"I might need that," he grimly joked, "Sounds like a good book."

Her neutral-happy expression changed to slight concern. "Anything… going on in your life?"

He looked away. "Well, I'd say there is," a grim smile replaced his generally happy expression.

"May I know what?" She asked.

"Well, my grandpa got badly injured, and he's in the hospital. Me, my parents, and siblings aren't sure he's gonna make it… He's our joy in hardships…" Tears came to his yellow eyes.

She looked down, hugging him like she'd do with all but two of the racers.

The representative for Veru, the company Haner was sponsored by, came in, yelling, "How's my favorite Red league!?"

Haner's nearly-black eyes brightened. "Voler!"

"Yep! I've brought you guys a gift."

All the cars smiled widely. The truck, who was the supervisor, smiled as well, though it was slight.

"Oh, Behkia was pointed out," Haner said.

"Oh no, the creepy racer was pointed out! What a shame," Voler replied.

All of them chuckled.

The gifts were given. Voler just kept the one meant for Behkia. The racers were thrilled.

Ven stared at a photograph of his brother, much darker in color. “I miss you,” he whispered, angry tears filling his light eyes. “Why did they have to kill you?”

None of the other racers noticed his misery. He stared at his gift. The other racers seemed so happy… So carefree…

He hated that.

Kellia glanced at Ven. The gray car glared at her. She looked away and talked to her brother.

Ven asked to leave, the supervisor giving him his pocketknife.

The entrance slammed. The supervisor cringed. “Ven’s great, but he needs to stop slamming the door.”

Willu nodded. Kellia scowled. The younger car drove her crazy. Willu frowned, looking at her. “Your jealousy is gonna get you killed.”

She sighed, leaving the square. Willu watched her leave, then thought, *They aren’t gonna let her forget this could KILL her.*

Willu sighed, also leaving. They lived in the same home due to being siblings. The 23-year-old started driving. Kellia was half-asleep when he got home.

There was a knock on the door. His girlfriend. She asked him if he wanted to go on another date. On the date, she proposed to him.

"Really Vahia! Of course!" Willu smiled widely.

She smiled widely as well, as everyone within hearing range of the table smiled as well.

Willu kissed his now-fiancée on the headlight.

They went to his home. Kellia was now fully awake.

Willu opened the door for his lady. “Guess what, Kellia!?”

“Uh huh?”

“Me and Vahia got engaged!” He looked very excited.

“I was wondering when you two would get engaged,” she chuckled.

Vahia chuckled in response. Willu looked very happy. Kellia hugged her brother, saying, “Congratulations!” She backed away. “How many kids do you want?”

“Three,” said both, and they looked at each other, laughing. The couple hugged each other, pure joy on all their fronts.

“Oh, by the way Vahia, where do you live?” Kellia asked. Her grille was still split with joy.

Vahia told the older car her address. She knew it was because Kellia’s brother liked to visit her home.

Vahia left, as she knew the siblings raced, and it was getting late. Kellia and Willu went to their respective bedrooms.

The next morning, they trained, heading for the track soon after.

Napok wasn't here. "Does anyone know where Napok is?" Asked Willu.

"He's sick, should be back in a couple of days," answered Ven.

The other racers frowned. "Okay…" Kellia said, disappointed.

"Hey, he won't crash me again this time! Why am I always the target of his accidents…" Haner muttered.

Willu chuckled. "You're safe. This time."

"Funny, W. Cevep."

Willu laughed. Haner shook her front. "K. Cevep, how do you deal with 'im?"

"Uhh… I just do," Kellia replied.

"You guys DON'T drive each other crazy? Huh. My brother drove me nuts when I lived with him,” Haner chuckled.

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t really do anything or have interesting characteristics enough for me to bring ‘im up,” she replied, “Not that that’s a bad thing.”

Willu nodded and went to talk to Bera. “Do you have any siblings?” he asked.

“Yep, two sisters and one brother.”

“Why does every female racer have a brother?” he chuckled.

Bera shrugged. “Multiple children, I’m guessing.”

“I would say,” the car replied. “Wanna race me?”

“Sure.”

Sometime later, they came back in. Bera just looked at Willu as he looked quite prideful. “I’m gonna train to get faster than you, race car,” she playfully mocked.

“Good luck, Bera!” he laughed, “‘Cause I’m gonna train harder.”

She gently sided him. “Silly race car, thinking he’s really something,” she laughed.

Kellia laughed. Bera revved her engine, staring at Willu.

The slightly older car chuckled. “I’m gonna head home now, I’m hungry.”

Kellia decided to come with her brother.

He started on a very simple meal. Kellia laid down in the living room.

After they ate, they decided to go to the park. Vahia was with them, holding her fiancé’s tire. They took a drive through the woods, heading back to their fairly simple gray house. Both siblings hoped that Napok would have a speedy recovery before bedtime.

After an hour of training the next morning, they headed to the track. Napok still wasn’t there. Ven had a frown on his grille. “Poor car. Was very sick when I came to check on him.”

Willu frowned. “Aw.”

Haner asked, “You live in the same neighborhood, right?”

The gray car nodded. “Along with Le-Behkia and Varin.”

Haner caught the first two letters of the author’s first name. “She really is a pain isn’t she?”

“Yep. She was very rude to one of the more violent neighbors where I live and got herself badly injured. So there’s that.”

Behkia glared at him. “Shut up!”

She was barely capable of driving properly, and her eyes and grille made it obvious driving was painful.

“Why didn’t you just stay home if it hurts to move at a slow pace?? You’re gonna crash, and that’s gonna escalate your pain,” Kellia noted.

“Maybe crashing would make her regain her sanity,” muttered the supervisor.

The injured car heard him. If looks could kill, he would’ve been killed on the spot.

The supervisor rolled his dark brown eyes. “Good luck with racing.”

Behkia sighed, looking down at her tires.

The race started. Behkia was far too injured to race, as she cried in pain the moment she sped up a bit. The referee pointed her off the track, so she just spectated.

Ven smirked as he caught sight of Behkia. “Don’t mess with random neighbors and maybe stuff like this won't happen!”

“(Expletive) you!” She shouted back. There was more anger in her voice than typical with the insult. The mood, Kellia decided.

He sped up, past Kellia. Her expression changed to subtle anger as she sped up.

Willu waved to the crowd. “Go Ceveps!” cried Vahia.

Ven muttered an expletive, speeding up.

So did Kellia, so much that she nearly crashed into Bera’s side, who cursed involuntarily.

“Parents, cover your children’s review mirrors!” yelled Willu, being the silly person he was on track. He got a few chuckles from two racers and rolling laughter went through the audience. The audience well knew that a race was not the best place for pure language.

“Haha, very funny!” yelled Bera.

Kellia shook her front. She ended up falling on her side, which even with the armor on the side, was not at all comfortable. Another expletive.

Haner cringed in empathy as she passed the racer. “Two more races, that’s all, K. Cevep.”

Kellia got back up, still getting behind Ven and Bera. She cursed again. “This is getting annoying.”

Haner shook her front. “You’re gonna get yourself killed. Slow down.”

“Not until I beat Ven!” she exclaimed.

“(Expletive),” he said, looking at her as he passed her.

Bera muttered, “He’s gonna hate you by the end of this term.”

“Whatever,” Kellia mumbled.

The seven cars went into the big square room under the rows and rows of spectator space.

“I’m the most popular car in all the city of Hakio!” Willu jokingly flaunted.

“Pretty sure Benop Maner is,” Haner replied.

“Well, besides him,” Willu said, “I’m the SECOND most popular car in the city of Hakio!”

“I love his singing,” Varin piped, “Also he’s cool-looking.”

“Tell me about it,” Kellia added, “The white, with the waves on his side, and eyes so pale blue they almost look white on camera.”

Willu looked at her and chuckled. “You have a thing for white cars, do you?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I have a crush on Maner.”

Willu slowly nodded. “Alright sis.”

“I don’t like him,” Ven said, “He’s weird.”

“Hey!” Varin jokingly yelled, “You’re an evil villain now.”

“Why do you think he’s weird?” Haner inquired.

“His songs, all the grayscale art. Why can’t you have color? Like red, yellow, or orange?”

Varin shrugged. “He just has a preference.”

“His songs aren’t violent,” Behkia contributed, “I like Jahel Bertu.”

“Even your song taste is messed up. Didn’t Jahel murder somebody?” Kellia replied.

“Call him Bertu,” she rolled her eyes, “And I don’t know.”

“I can’t respect him,” Varin deadpanned, “Hard to respect murderers and people who sing about murder and other horrible acts.”

“He actually killed somebody?” Her eyes went blank with confusion. “Maybe that’s why there’s someone named Behiu constantly mentioned. I’ve wondered about that.”

“You didn’t know?? Isn’t his unusual song topics, violent descriptions, recurring name, and graphic lyrics a dead giveaway??” Ven stared at her like she was stupid.

“You listen to him?” Kellia looked at him in disgust.

“No, it’s common knowledge in this city that he’s creepy and she just mentioned some vehicle named Behiu. I don’t like him either,” the gray car answered. His tone was noticeably irritated.

“I knew he was creepy, but certainly didn’t know he’s an actual murderer,” Behkia scowled.

The racers not talking looked at Behkia in disgust. She just sighed and decided to head home, albeit slowly and painfully. Ven watched her leave. “This is what she gets for liking Jahel.”

Kellia shook her front after the author left. “Some (expletive).”

“Cretin’s punishing her,” Haner replied.

“Combined with fate,” added Willu.

“Don’t forget the physics of the world!” shouted the supervisor.

“We just touched upon every belief on our planet,” Willu chuckled. “And all of those are punishing her at once.”

The supervisor nodded, laughing. “None of those like Jahel or his listeners.”

All of them laughed, except Ven, who gave a humored smile. “Another reason to hate her,” Ven replied.

“Indeed,” Willu agreed, “I just kept my grille shut, I didn't wanna want to curse at her so much that I get pointed out and she loses all her confidence.”

“Good choice,” Kellia replied.

“So uh.. Wanna go back to talking about Maner?” Varin requested, “I don’t like talking about Jahel. He’s much too creepy.”

“Maner is way better,” the supervisor said, “I may not like the sound of his music, but at least he’s not a murderer.”

“Yep,” Ven concurred.

“He also seems like a good person on stage and off it. A little cocky, but not like Narres level.”

“The racer for… Uhh, Faster?”

“Yeah, he’s another level of cocky. He also sided Kella in two of the races,” Varin mentioned.

“Isn’t Kella the really nice racer? The green one?” Haner asked.

“Yep, I’m not surprised he went to foul play. He seems to have a vendetta against her,” the car scowled.

“That’s great,” Haner sarcastically quipped.

“Doesn’t the Hakio Faster League really love Maner?” inquired Willu.

“Yep, and so does their audience. At least one of the songs is played every time they race. It helps that the stadium is near his house,” Varin replied.

“Ah,” Kellia said, “Cool.”

“As much as I’m enjoying this conversation, I think me and Kellia should get home,” Willu interrupted.

“How do you know so much about the Hakio Faster League?” Kellia inquired.

“One of my siblings are one of ‘em. I take off for a few days after injuries to watch the league race.”

Willu lifted a tire and left. Kellia copied him. Five hours later, they went to sleep.

On the second race the next afternoon, Ven slammed her into the wall. He made it look like an accident, and yelled in a worried tone, “K. Cevep!”

She passed out, but not before she knew that Ven injuring her was not an accident.

She woke up in the hospital. Willu wasn’t in the room, but her parents were. “O-One of the racers crashed me…” She whispered.

“What!?” Her mother gasped.

“I-It hurts,” she muttered. At this, her parents’ eyes saddened.

The car was released when she was able to drive without massive pain, just no racing. This pained her. She so badly wanted to beat Ven.

But what pained her the most was Willu, her own brother, never coming to visit her.

As hours passed, she grew less sad, and more concerned. She searched for Willu with the help of Vahia, Bera, and Haner.

She eventually found him. He was badly injured and tied up, looking scared. “Who-Who did this to you!?” She freed her brother, taking his tire and speeding to her home.

“If I say, he’ll kill me…”

*Was it Ven? No… He wouldn't. He was probably just really angry at me…*

The next morning, Napok still wasn’t back. *Napok sick… Behkia badly injured… Me crashed into… Willu kidnapped…* “Someone’s targeting us!” Kellia yelled fearfully.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Napok still isn’t back. What if he was poisoned? Ven crashed into me. What if someone threatened to kill him if he didn’t? And Willu was just kidnapped! Not to mention Behkia, you guys saw how badly injured she was!”

Ven narrowed his eyes, which had just flashed in recognition. “Interesting. This is all very strange… My neighbor. He doesn’t like us. Maybe…”

“Were you threatened?” She looked at him, wide-eyed.

“I’ve been threatened by him two times.”

“Why did you act like it was an accident?”

He looked down. “I was scared you guys would be angry at me.”

“If you were threatened, you can just tell us, we’d protect each other,” Kellia comforted.

He smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” He paused. “Say, would you guys like to race in the woods?”

“Sure,” replied some of the racers. Behkia, Haner, and Willu declined.

He chuckled. “Now we’ll be like other racing leagues. Hopefully, the neighbor doesn’t find us.”

“Yeah…” Kellia agreed.

“Oh, and K. Cevep…” He smiled widely. “I want to tell you something, away from the others. I think you’ll like it.”

She nodded. “Alright!”

The ones who agreed to the forest followed the 25-year-old. They raced each other, and Ven called her over. She sped over to him, and the gray car said, “Alright, I have a present for your brother, since he’s so kind to me. I don’t want the others to know in case they tell ‘im.”

She nodded. He took her tire and sped deep into the woods. “Alright I’m thinking-”

Suddenly, his entire attitude switched. She realized she’d fallen into the trap. He tied her up.

The car laughed. “You’re so stupid.”

“Ven-”

“Ven would never commit murder or kidnap the Cevep siblings.” He smirked. “Narel would.”

Her eyes widened. “Did you kill Napok!?”

Eerily calm, he replied, “Yes.”

“B-But why?” She stammered, “He was innocent!”

“Innocents are the easiest to kill.” Narel’s eyes grew cold. “Kellia, you deserve to die.”

“No!” She screamed. “Please!” She tried desperately to get free.

Narel laughed, the sound cold. “It’s hopeless. No one can hear you.”

Tears came to her eyes. “Why me? Why Willu? He cares so much about you!”

“Willu? It’s his fault for trusting me.”

Anger filled her. “We all believed you’re innocent! You’re a monster!”

“Yep. Just like my brother…” A mix of grief and anger came into his light green eyes. “Did you think ALL the other races I’ve come across tried to attack me for no reason? They didn’t. Often they… TRIED… to protect their friends and family… Didn’t always work.” He smirked.

“You monster…” She whispered.

“Now…” He tied a big rock to the tail of the rope and threw her underwater. “Bye Kellia.”

She screamed. No one came. She sank under the surface.

Narel drove back, getting everyone back to the Socializing Square. He pulled his pistol, shooting the supervisor. Two droplets of gasoline sprayed onto the door.

Everyone stared in horror, backing away. “Ven!” shouted Haner, crying. “W-Why?”

“Narel.”

Everyone looked betrayed. Behkia was staring at the lifeless supervisor in terror.

“Cave and Kellia are dead.” He coldly looked at Willu. “Willu… Happy birthday.” A cold smirk came over his front.

Willu didn’t reply. Tears said it all.

“If any of you say anything about this… No more Hakio Red League.”

The cars, now all crying, looked at each other. No one dared speak up. Haner and Willu were sobbing too much to speak.

# Authors’ Notes

Wow. That was a rollercoaster. Narel… I don’t know. All I know is that he needs help. Or me, Sisi, needs to chill on the darkness. That can’t be it… Right? Also, worst birthday present ever. Poor Willu. Narel was fun to write, so was Behkia. Kellia was a good character too. *I’d like to formally apologize to Willu for murdering his sister.*

Love, Sisi <3

P.S. How ironic with the heart. Also these notes were a mess. -\_-