Chapter 4: The Burning Line
The air was electric. Kuala Lumpur's midnight glow lit the skyline like a fuse ready to blow. Below, in an abandoned warehouse lot near Cheras, engines growled. Tyres hissed. The smell of burnt rubber and sweat hung thick in the air.
Kelvin gripped the wheel of his matte black Nissan GT-R, the twin-turbo beast vibrating with anticipation. Across from him, under the floodlights, was Raizo, the new threat in town — all leather, tattoos, and ice-cold eyes. He wasn't here for money. He was here for domination.
"This isn't just a race anymore," Kelvin muttered."It never was," whispered Jay, his mechanic and blood-brother. "He's been taking out racers all over Asia. You're the last one standing between him and total control."
A crowd had gathered, tighter than usual. Cameras. Streamers. Gangs. Sponsors. Even the cops, hidden in the shadows, watching the scene unfold like a pressure cooker.
Raizo stepped out of his blood-red Mazda RX-7. He walked over slowly, flipping a silver coin in his fingers.
"One race," he said. "Lose, and Blacklist Rush is mine. Win, and I'll vanish."
Kelvin's heart thumped like a war drum. The stakes weren't just the streets anymore. It was identity. Pride. Love.
Because in the crowd, hidden behind a hoodie, stood Aria — Raizo's ex, and Kelvin's maybe. The same girl who once saved him from a crash that should've ended it all. And the same girl who Raizo once nearly killed in a fit of rage.
The engines roared.
Flag dropped.
BOOM.
They launched.
Concrete blurred. Headlights flickered like strobes. G-forces pressed against their bodies as they tore through the industrial maze of KL's underbelly. Raizo was fast — inhumanly fast. His car moved like it anticipated every corner before it arrived.
But Kelvin had something Raizo didn't — anger. Love. A reason.
At the highway loop, Kelvin shifted at 8,000 RPM. Flames burst from the exhaust. They were neck to neck. Raizo glanced over, smirked, and clipped Kelvin's rear bumper — a dirty trick.
The GT-R slid sideways at 200km/h. For a second, it felt like death. But Kelvin didn't brake. He drifted into the chaos, tyres screaming, metal groaning, heart screaming louder.
"Come on… hold… HOLD!" he yelled.
The car snapped back. Controlled. Furious.
At the final stretch, they flew past burning barrels, scaffolding, even a bus blocking half the lane. Kelvin didn't flinch. He shot under it, paint scraping steel. Sparks flew. The crowd went ballistic.
The finish line blazed ahead.
A heartbeat.A breath.A choice.
Kelvin nosed ahead by inches.
Victory.
The warehouse exploded in cheers. Raizo screeched to a halt, eyes wide in disbelief. He stepped out… and laughed.
"This ain't over," he spat. "I'll be back. With more. With worse."
Kelvin didn't answer. He walked to Aria.
She pulled off her hoodie.
And kissed him.