Stephano reached into his vest pocket and retrieved his pocket watch. The time read 6:47 PM. Excellent he thought, then he reached down to the phone on the table and dialed Cole's number. When finished he dialed Manako's. Leaving the same message on both voicemails it followed.

Hello there its Mr. Dieseli speaking. It is time to finally prove yourselves worthing to work for my organization. Meet me at the same place where I met you before at 9:00 PM. A race is being held there and it is time to start producing us money. Further information will be given on the spot. Hope to see tou there.

After eating dinner and freshening up Stephano proceeded to his car. As he pulled out of his driveway, Paolo with his car full of "onlookers" joined the trek to the race site. The two cars arrived at the race at 8:45 PM on the dot. As all of them stepped out of the cars they waited for the men of the hour to arrive.

Cole was busy checking the brake pads on the R35 outside of Jack's when his phone buzzed with a message he was expecting. 'Game time.' He thought to himself and finished prepping the car for the night.

Finding Stephano and the gang wasn't difficult. They stood out like a sheep in a pig pen among the racers. He parked the GT-R parallel to the mobs cars and stepped out. "Greetings gentlemen."

Manako was eating dinner when his phone buzzed. He listened to the message and smiled. "Alright Its show time." Manako said. He then finished his dinner and got into his Skyline and drove towards the racing scene. As he gets there he parks his car next to Cole's. "Alright the drift king is here." Manako said getting out of his car.

As Stephano stepped out of his car he scanned the surroundings. Just as I left it he thought seeing nearly all the things he witnessed before. As Paolo and company walked beside him all they had to do was wait.

It didn't take long for one of the farmilar cars to pulls along Stephano's. As Mr. Peyton stepped out Stephano greeted him with a firm handshake and told Cole to wait until Mr. Sora arrived. So after a second car pulled along Stephano and out emerged Manako. Stephano also greeted him then motioned them over to his car.

Stephano then opened the trunk of the Continental revealing an assortment of things. Stacks of money, bullet proof vests, handguns, blankets, you name it. Stephano reached in and grabbed some stacks of the money and two Model 1911 handguns. He then looked at both racers.

"Alright here is 50,000 dollars. You have the night to turn a profit for us. Only take cash, I don't want any stuipid shit with IOUs. Also you are taking these guns like it or not. You probally won't be needed them, but I feel the need to protect my investments. And remember if anything goes wrong find us and we'll get it cleared up. Now go and good luck."

"Believe me, IOU's don't exist around here." Cole laughed. The way Stephano decided to do this was a little strange to him. Cole would've thought that he would've wanted to place bets on direct races themselves, but no matter, if anything this made the job easier for them. The pistol was pretty much pointless to him, since he always carried an M9 underneath the console in whatever car he was driving that night, but he took it without a word.

"Lunch time, bro." He looked at Manako with a smile and started looking around the area for any high rollers with more money than talent. This was the first time he had been the "high buck" section, where wagers were considerably higher and the cars were a little more exotic. Happily, he found that the GT-R blended right in. It was mostly vipers, corvettes, porsches, and even a few lambos. He was going to have some fun tonight.

Manako took the gun and the money and looked at Cole and said "Right lets make them cry." As he walked with Cole to find any high rollers. When he noticed everyone staring at both of them. When suddenly a guy who was very well-dressed came up and said "Hey chumps this area is for the best drivers only." Manako looked at him and said "Chumps? All I see is a guy with fancy clothing and who probably can't even control their car." The guy looks at him with fury in his eyes and said "Alright lets see how well you can drive with 50 grand on the line." Manako looks at him and said "Fine 50 grand it is." Then he watched as the guy walk towards a 1995 Viper GTS. Then Manako Walked towards his Skyline and got in and drove towards the start line. As they both handed the race director the 50 grand. As the grid girl stood between both cars and raised both hands. Then she dropped her hands and both drivers speed off. The Viper had the head start but the Skyline kept up.

As they entered the first turn the Viper took the turn fast and cleared the turn. Manako took the turn as well and was close behind the Viper. As the crowd watched the cars disappear around the corner they began to go back to their groups but three guys walk up to Cole and one of them said "Your friend there in the Skyline is going to lose. Nothing can beat a Viper especially a '95."

Cole watched anxiously as Manako and the viper went at each other. He overheard that Manako placed all 50 grand on this one race. He better win it if he values his well being, Cole thought. Soon, several guys stood next to him and started talking smack to him. "A lot of things can beat a viper in the corners, just wait." For some reason, this made the guys mad. "You mean some rice rocket can hang with American firepower?" One of the shot back. "Most imports can, and you're retarded if you think a viper can take a corner better than an R34, especially that one." The goons were even more upset. "So what do you drive kid?" They challenged. "An R35." Cole finally turned and starred them down. The guys looked at each other and then to one in particular. "You're going to run Frankie here in his ACR, he'll show that import what a viper can really do." Cole rolled his eyes. "Be ready to get humiliated." He turned back to watching the race.

After three corners the Viper was behind, way behind. As Manako came to the turn around he Heel toed Shifted drifting the car in the turn around. As he was coming out of it he stepped on the gas and sped pass the Viper who was just getting to the turn. As he came upon the final turn Manako shifted the cars weight and drifted into the turn with only a centimeter or two from hitting the side of a tanker. It was a beautiful drift. as he came out of the turn he stepped on the gas and speed towards the finish line. As he crossed, the Viper was already coming to the final turn. As he began to turn the Vipers rear wheels slide from underneath him and he spun out. As the Viper spun it slammed into a cargo container that sat next to other containers.

As Manako stepped out of his Skyline the Race director handed him his winnings. Manako walked over to Cole and smiled.

The men around Cole were obviously not enthusiastic about the result, and the atmosphere around him grew tense. On another thought, how Manako was as quick as he was while applying his drifting technique to what would normally be a grip race was unbelievable to him.
The men briefly stepped away, probably to check on their buddy who had just packed his viper into a shipping container. Cole nodded at Manako. "Nice run."
Within a minute, one of the men made his way back over to Cole. "Let's go, miss Jane. 50 grand." He punched Cole on the shoulder. Cole really didn't want to bet all 50 thousand on one race, but this guy most likely was wanting to replace the 50k his buddy just lost.
Needless to say, he didn't appreciate the name or the gesture. "See you there." He silently made his way to the GT-R. If this guy had any of the same skills his buddy had, then Cole had nothing to worry about.

The R35 rumbled up to a start line that already occupied what looked like a brand new black and red Viper ACR. Cole took in a big breathe. This was it, he had to win this. The pressure on him was even more intense than when he raced professionally, maybe because his life may be on the line here. He knew he had to put those nerves away and do what he did best: Drive.
An exceptionally attractive girl stood between the two cars. Apparently the women were better too in the "rich guys section." Cole brought up the revs to start producing moderate boost and then held it on the launch controller, the viper's massive V10 threatening to drown out the sound of the R35's V6. The girl's arms came down, and both cars shot off the line, the GT-R a little better than the viper due to the AWD system.

The race was a little longer than typical, Cole guessed that was because the stakes were higher, but his game plan was still the same. Almost every corner, the viper would close a little under braking, but have a hard time getting threw the center as well as Cole and as a result Cole would open that gap back up on the exit. It was a close race, but Cole was in control, maintaining a 5 car length lead over the viper. The two cars got close to the finish, and Cole found himself having to run the inside a little more than he would like to protect against the viper's aggressive dive bombs that were brave but futile. The last corner was no different, the viper practically locked the brakes getting into it, but he wasn't close enough to make anything of it, and Cole cruised to the win.

Even as he drove back to the lot, his heart rate was threw the roof, and because of it, so was his breathing, which was starting to pain him a little. One day, he was going to have to brave threw it and go to a hospital, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He got his large sum of cash and drove back to Manako's car, at least the boss must've been happy.

Seeing both Cole and Manako win their first races made Stephano quiet happy. Be informed that they both had won 50,000 dollars made him even happier. From his vantage point near his the Continental he continued watching the races trying to make sense of this generation and their strange ways.

Cole simply sat in his car for little bit, resting his 1 and a half lungs and letting the water and oil temperature come down a little. At the boost setting he was at that last race, he didn't have the proper intercooler or radiator to contain the heat. He was beginning to realize that he cut way too many corners with this car when he built it, out of haste and lack of money.

He decided to step out and take a stroll through the area to see if he could spot any easy next targets. Some of these cars had to have over half a million into them, especially some of the upper class lambos. There was even a Bugatti Veyron there. He was overhearing bets of hundreds of thousands of dollars, even one for a million. And unlike the other side of street racing, this group had many well dressed, older gentlemen among the crowd. His best guess was that this was more mob, and probably not Stephano's guys.

Cole soon made his way back to his car and found Stephano. "Feeling more comfortable here yet?" He said jokingly.

It wasn't hard to overhear Cole speeding away after spending the whole late afternoon under the car. Of course Brian easily put two and two together. Car maintainance, phone call...sped off. That had to be a call from his new employer because the sun has set about two hours ago and the racers were getting ready to rev their engines.

Unfortunately Brian wasn't off the couch and through Jacks various hiding spots for his car keys fast enough for Brian to be able to follow Cole but he still had his sources to find out about local races. So after placing a few calls Brian knew exactly where Cole was heading and in Jack's car a moment later.

When he arrived at the scene the games were already on big time. Nobody recognised Brian anymore, especially because he was driving his brothers car, which was a good thing because it gave him the opportunity to blend in more easily and search for Cole.

Cole, on the other hand, was easy to spot. He was walking around admiring some very expensive cars that were more there for the show than the actual racing. Brian kept his distance but never let his friend out of his sight any more.

Not too far away a few men in suits stood out from the scantly dressed crowd like sore thumbs...the mob. Brian frowned when he crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against Jacks EVO to watch what was going on. Just to be on the safe side he had brought his gun tonight even though he had lost his license.

Manako began walking around looking for more challenges when he noticed a guy leaning against an EVO. So Manako Walked up leaned against the RX also and said "Nice night for racing huh? Your EVO might lose to me and I'll put 30 grand on it. How bout it would you like to race?"

Stephano cocked an eyebrow to Cole's statement. "I guess I need to work on my poker face here" he thought. Unfolding his arms he turned to Cole.

"Mr. Peyton I am still unsure about my feelings here. I do feel more accepted here due to the class of man, but that leads to the underlying problem. I know at least half of those people there and for the wrong reasons. I may have one of the largest organizations in the state but I have made a hell of a lot of enemies getting there."

Stephano then turned back to his car's trunk and pulled out another 50,000 dollars.

"Seeing that you doubled your money in one race I am giving you another 50,000 dollars. Also please try and not get yourself killed."

As Stephano was speaking, Cole thought back to the other men in suits he had seen earlier. Would his life be in jeopardy from those guys if they found out who he worked for? What if he beat them in a race? He tried to put those thoughts aside and kept a cheerful manner. "Well, you just need to make sure they know who's top dog here. They'll stay out of your way if they fear you." Cole did his best trying to sound smart in front of the mobster. He knew that statement all to well. Back in the day, that's basically the only thing he relied on for respect on the street: He was not a guy you wanted to mess with in a car, and thus not a guy you wanted to get into a betting match with.

Cole grinned as Stephano handed him the extra stack. Now he had 150 grand to play with...well not play with but you get the point. "Thanks boss." He remembered overhearing a race that was forming that had a 100k buy in, winner takes all, no limit to the amount of cars entered. Cole stashed the money safely away in his GT-R and hurried off to see if he could still get in.

When the man approached him and simply leaned on Jack's EVO as if they were best buddies Brian gave him a slightly bewildered look. The guy came straight down to business.
"You're pretty sure of yourself, bro. Must be one hell of a racers if you put up that kind of money against a total stranger."
He gave him a smirk. The offer was tempting because most people who were this full of themselves couldn't actually live up to their mouths.
"I'd love to show you my tail lights but unfortuantely I don't have that kind of money."
Brian only came to watch Cole and make sure he stayed out of trouble but the whole roaring of the engines, cheering crowd and easy cash made his fingers twitch.
"What are you driving?" better check out the competition first.

When this guy didn't want to race Manako knew something was up because he turned down the race when he said he didn't have the money. Manako just shrugged and when the guy asked about what car Manako drove so Manako answered "I drive a 2000 Nissan Skyline R34 GTR." Then Manako looks at him and noticed something a little familiar about this guy. So Manako asked "Hey just wondering do you know a Cole Peyton?"

Now that he asked for Cole Brian knew why the guy looked so familiar. He had seen him before with Cole, that darn day when Cole was approached by the mob boss.
If Brian recalled it right they had raced and been pretty close, which sparked his interest even more.

"I do. I raced him before. So." He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket, that he had 'borrowed' from his brothers coffee tin or private bank.
"I have 300. That's all. Sorry I'm not playing in your league money wise but I'm pretty sure I can keep up with your driving."
He raised a brow hoping that the man would take the bait.

Cole tried briefly to find Manako to see if he wanted in on this race, that way they'd double their chances to take the win. But forever reason he was gone, out of sight. So he trotted back over to where he last heard of this race, and found 4 cars all getting ready in the staging area with a race directer standing next to them. He quickly asked the directer if entry was closed. "Nope, hundred grand buy in though." Cole nodded and said he'd be right back.

He got to his R35, lit up the engine, and hurried to where those four cars were parked while fishing out a 100g's to hand over. He was running against a Porsche 911, a Corvette Z06, a Lamborghini Gallardo, and what looked like a Noble M400. All the cars looked heavily modified, but then again, to compete at this level for this much money, they almost had to be.

Finally, it was their turn to have the track. It was going to be a two lap race, so the cars that started in the back had a better chance, and everyone drew starting positions. Cole's starting position was 4th out of the 5 cars, to his annoyance. Cole accessed the car's computer, which told him the car was good to go. The engine sounded crisp, brakes felt good, and he felt good. The started raised his hand to the sound of V10's, V8's, V6's and flat sixes all in harmony and at redline. He dropped his arm and what followed had to be the noisiest start to a race ever. Cole got a decent launch and managed to beat the Corvette off the line for 3rd place. The awd Gallardo shot ahead to the lead and Noble M400 was a few car lengths behind him. Cole focused on just making up some ground on the first few corners, using up all the brakes on the entry and putting all those horses down carefully and smoothly with his right foot on exit. Though it took some effort, he finally got to the Noble's bumper and although he couldn't beat the very light and agile supercar through the corners, his GT-R could out-muscle it on the straights. He finally got along side the M400 at the end of a straight and broke very late to try to take it's handling advantage away, with a little wheelman work the Nissan stuck through the corner and Cole got back to gas, leaving the Noble behind. Now all he had left was the lambo, who had a sizeable lead, and the first lap was already almost complete. He was going to have to drive his ass off just to catch him.

The good thing was, Cole was beginning to be familiar with this course, so he could drive it without having to pay extra attention to where he had to turn. Instead, he could just drive it like a track, like how he did at the peak off his professional career. The sports cars flew by the lot and the staging area at well over a 100 mph to complete their first lap, from an onlookers view it must've been pretty badass. Cole used the long straightaway to let himself relax and get into a subconscious driving level; where your brain is actually ahead of where your car is. For the first few corners of the second lap, Cole gained a little ground but frankly it was very tough, that lambo was very comparable to his car in terms of all around performance. After about half the lap, Cole had closed but he need a few more lengths, so he tried braking ridiculously late to make the lambo nervous even though he was going to give some time up on the exit. This started to work though, and the lambo was chased off his normal line, slowing down his corners considerably. Cole finally got to the back bumper, and there were two corners left, both right handers. The young driver guided the GT-R to either side of the lambo, trying to juke the driver out. It worked slightly, and entering the corner the lambo got a little too aggressive trying to block, and briefly lost the back of the car, sliding him out in the center of the corner allowing Cole to get to his door. It was now a drag race to the final turn, Cole had the inside but that was by no means a guarantee. His heart was pounding faster then ever, and for the first time in awhile, he was truly nervous behind the wheel of a car. He squeezed the Gallardo as far to the outside as possible and hit his normal braking point, so the lambo wouldn't try a cross-over. At the exit of the corner, Cole almost cleared him but the lambo tried to turn into him, getting the GT-R very loose but controllable. A drag race to the finish proved Cole victorious, he had never been happier in his life. He just won 400 thousand dollars.

OOC: Sorry for the mega posts that I know may be boring to some...I just don't wanna write "Cole won. The end." on big money races like this lol.

Manako contemplated on taking up this guys offer for 300 dollars which could get him in trouble with Stephano. After a little bit of time Manako finally answered "I can't race you for just $300 I have to go big but maybe sometime when I'm out here having fun I'll race you then. How does that sound?" then Manako extended his hand for a shake in agreement.