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Everyone knew how Rex Racer crashed at Casa Cristo and consequently, very few paid any attention to how he drove it. But Taejo Togokan needed this win, more than anyone ever had. He'd watched the recordings of every Casa Cristo that'd ever been televised, he'd read testimonies and interviews with drivers, and analysis by everyone from ex-driver commentators to obscure internet fan blogs. Taejo knew every way there was to drive Casa Cristo.
No one had ever driven it like Rex Racer.
At the time Taejo hoped Speed might. And Speed did a phenomenal job, particularly for such a young driver, but he wasn't Rex. Still they'd won, they'd pulled off a lead almost as good as Rex's without him, and once they crossed the checkered line Taejo had other things to think about.
Until he was in the airport on the way to Cosmopolis, when they played the race footage on TV. Taejo's first instinct was to look away- the guilt he'd carefully swallowed for his father and sisters' benefit felt unavoidable when he was alone. But he found he couldn't help himself. They were playing footage from the morning of the second day, when he'd been busy with Block and Trixie was driving. Taejo was so lost in watching, in thinking about how it'd felt to be part of a real team, he almost didn't notice. But those mountain paths were notoriously tricky, and he'd reviewed that part of past race footage extensively. No one drove it like Rex Racer, until Racer X did.
It was a crazy thought. It made no damn sense! And yet the more Taejo watched, the more sense it made. The way X drove, the way he interacted with Speed, the way he knew the track… Taejo had assumed X did research, much like he himself had. Heck working for the CIB he probably had someone to do that for him. But what if he'd run it before?
Then there was the way he talked to Taejo, the things he said about racing. Racer X had never been gentle, he'd never hesitated to call it as he saw it. Taejo already assumed X had some experience in the industry that his public racing history wouldn't suggest. And who would know the underside of racing better than Rex Racer himself?
No one actually saw Rex crash. That was the thought that finally cemented the possibility in Taejo's mind. No one actually saw the crash, because the cameras were focused elsewhere and Rex was so far ahead he wasn't in any of their frames. As soon as Taejo got to the hotel, he rushed straight to his private room. His Casa Cristo research was all still up on his laptop. It took no time at all to pull up all the footage from three years ago.
Two cameras caught some portion of the first fire ball in their peripheral. By the time there was a camera on Racer's car, it was crashed and burning so intensely one would be hard pressed to recognise it. Taejo thought back to his own Casa Cristo run, to Racer X's plan to get ahead and do the switch off in a dead zone. They'd had enough time not only to switch drivers and refuel, but to fight off Crunch Block's ambush and get clear before the next team caught up. The plan should never have worked, but it did because Racer X drove like Rex Racer had, when Rex was racing not for the finish line but for the caves. For where he'd planned his own death.
Taejo sat back in his chair, mind still reeling. It was utterly insane, and yet he was sure it was true. He muttered a curse under his breath. He thought he'd been clever, pulling one over on Royalton, getting Block off the board before his family could get hurt, and playing their game enough to avoid retribution. He didn't like doing that to Speed, but he wasn't worried about revenge from the younger Racer. But no, he'd gone and fucked over Rex fucking Racer.
Taejo groaned. He was a dead man if he ever drove again.