The Race Begins

Era beginning/end

On a visit to France, Rhys runs into a man who happens to own a modified car. The man's car has broken down and he's been trying to fix it for hours. Rhys was just getting into cars and had a knack for fixing them even though he was still pretty young, so he thought maybe he could help. The man lets Rhys give it a shot, and to his surprise he his actually able to fix it. As a gift, the man gives Rhys a little crystal that was hanging from his rearview mirror. Rhys wears it as a necklace for the rest of the trip.

Paris, France is known as one of the world's most popular tourist attractions, but Rhys maybe underestimated just how many people come here. It was like New York City, if it was cleaner and the people were nicer. And it was so loud. As he walked with his family, Rhys could hear many things like bicycles, people having lunch, people's dogs, etc. However, one noise caught his attention.   VROOOOOM.   It was the sound of a car, but not just any car.   VROOOOM, sputter, sputter.   It was a car with a modified muffler. A street racing car.   As Rhys turns a corner on the street, he sees the car that these noises belong to. A second generation Dodge Challenger, probably made around the early 80's since the roof was more formal and flat, meaning this car was pretty old. The driver probably just as old, if not older. A man, probably in his late-50's by the looks of it, and his son, who looks like he's about the same age as Rhys, were working on the front of his car trying to fix something. Maybe his engine is broken? Rhys thinks to himself.   As Rhys and his family slowly get closer to them, the car noises begin to change.   VROOO-SQUEEEEE.   That doesn't sound too good, maybe I can help. Rhys runs ahead of his family as they yell behind him asking where he's going. When he reaches the the car he shouts, "Hey, I like you're car!" The man looks up from the hood of his car towards Rhys. "Je vous remercie, young man! Unfortunately, Elise is getting old and I'm not quite sure what is wrong with her." The man smiles and scratches his head.   "Well, maybe I can take a look at it?" Intrigued by Rhys' offer, the man agrees to let him take a look. "I doubt you will see something I didn't, but be my guest, my friend." He gets out of the way and let's Rhys get to work.   Rhys puts his head under the hood and enters his zone. First, he asks the man to rev the engine, he has to hear where this problem is coming from. The man asks his son to turn on the engine, and as he does so Rhys listens very closely. It starts off normal then a loud SQUEEE can be heard coming from the left side of the engine. Rhys puts his hand out, signaling the man to turn off the engine. He then focuses his attention to the side of the engine the sound was coming from, and signals the man to, again, turn the engine on. As the engine revs, Rhys turns his attention to the camshaft sprockets. No, it's not that. He then notices the color of the timing belt. It's brown, worn down, probably hasn't been replaced in a while. That has to be it. Rhys, for the last time, signals to stop the engine. As it does, and the timing belt also stops moving, Rhys notices that it's beginning to tear. Bingo.   Rhys comes out from under the hood and points towards the belt. "Your timing belt is tearing. You should probably replace it."   The man looks befuddled, then takes a closer look at the belt. It was indeed tearing. "Oh mon Dieu! You are right! I guess I am getting old, ah? My eyes don't work as well as they used to. If I may ask, what is your name?" He reaches his hand out for a handshake. Rhys goes for it. "I'm Rhys."   "Nice to meet you, Rhys. I am Leon and this is my son Lucas. So you like cars, huh?"   "Ha, yeah, I've been learning about them for a year now."   "A year? Wow! You think you want to do this when you're older?"   Rhys scratches the back of his head. "I don't know, probably? I want to build a nice and fast car."   "Oh, nice and fast huh? That could be very dangerous you know!"   "I know, but I don't care. It's cool!"   The man's face looks dead serious for a few seconds before turning into a wide smile. He looks towards Rhys' family, "Haha! I like this one! Reminds me of myself when I was younger! Tell you what..." Leon then looks towards Lucas. "Lucas, my boy, grab that cristal that's hanging from the miroir." Lucas reaches his hand towards a small crystal that's hanging from the car's rearview mirror. He hands it to his father.   Leon shows off the crystal to Rhys, which is connected to a necklace. "This cristal has helped me through many troubles. It is my protector, my gardien. Put your hand out, Rhys." As Rhys does this, Leon places the crystal into his hands. "It is now yours, my little friend." He admires the crystal for a bit, noticing a slight white glow to it. "Whoa, thanks!" At this point, Rhys' parents shout at him that they have to go. "Well it was nice talking to you Rhys! Where are you from?"   As Rhys begins to back away he answers, "America."   "Ooh, America. Well good luck Rhys! And take good care of that cristal for me, okay?"   As Rhys turns around towards his parents, he answers, "I will. See ya, Leon!"   Leon watches as Rhys walks away with his family, and with a soulful look on his face he says, "Au revoir, Arsenal." He then enters his car with Lucas and they drive off.   Rhys shows off the new necklace he got from Leon to his parents and his sister Zarya, and his parents help him to put it on. Zarya remarks how his crystal kind of looks like her crystal that she had received a week before. Rhys laughs and states that yeah, they kind of do look similar. They continue on their vacation.