It was a horrible, wet and windy day in the town of Chillwind. The rain pelted down on the

ground as the wind whistled in between the trees and gaps of the buildings. The usual busy

town centre was today quiet and empty, with only the occasional bus, vehicle or pedestrian

in its presence. Nobody wanted to be stuck out on a terrible day like this – even cats decided

that it would be better indoors.

In a small garage in one of the many neighbourhoods, Cade the Nissan Skyline GTR laid

lazily on his garage floor. He had been stuck inside all day, and the boredom of not doing

anything fast paced was getting to him. His owner had told him to stay inside, as it was far

too slippery for him to be driving at the pace he usually drove at – he‟d end up crashing into

a building or something. The racecourse wouldn‟t be much better either, as he would simply

keep skidding off it. Cade gave a loud groan and fidgeted with a football. He only touched it

a few times, and then kicked it away.

“Stupid, dumb rain; why can‟t you go and dump your load on another town or place?” He

grumbled as he heard the raindrops hit the roof of his garage.

Cade hated being stuck inside his garage. He liked being outdoors, racing along as the wind

breezed over his slick and smooth body. He liked to hear the pounding of his pistons and

the roar of his engine as he thundered around the racecourse, determined to beat his

records. But when the weather decided to take a turn for the worst, none of that would be

happening. Everywhere was damp, gloomy and miserable…and very wet.

His attention was changed to the door as it suddenly opened. It was his owner with a box of

tools. He glanced at the human and sighed sadly. His owner chuckled in response.

“Sigh as much as you want, C‟, but I ain‟t letting yer‟ out today.” He said to him.

“You think I enjoy being stuck in this prison cell? I was made to tear up the roads, not lie

about like an old rust bucket!” Cade protested. “I‟m a sporter‟, not a lazier!”

“Cade, the last thing I want happening to you is getting damaged because you hit a wall or

another vehicle. I know you too well, kiddo‟, you‟ll end up hitting over fifty guaranteed.” His

owner replied.

Cade simply groaned his engine in reply. He moved his front left tyre closer to his bumper

and begun biting it slightly.

“What „ave I told yer‟ about biting yer‟ treads?” His owner said. “Ye‟ll burst em‟ if you carry

on.”

Cade stopped biting it and withdrew it back into his fender. He had a habit of biting his tyres

and always had to be told to stop both by his owner and his friends. He sighed once again

and stood silent, only looking down at the floor beneath him. His owner gave him a smile

and began rubbing his hood gently. Cade looked up at him and huffed.

“What am I, a dog now?” He muttered.

“Nope, just my cheeky, littl‟ roadrunner.” His owner happily said.

Cade rolled his eyes and let his owner continue to pet him. His owner stopped after a while

and looked around his garage, full of small toys and other bits and bobs.

“You‟ve got yer‟ toys to play with, haven‟t yer?” His owner suggested to Cade.

“Nah, they‟re far too boring.” The Skyline replied as he yawned loudly.

His owner stood silently for a moment, thinking of what could cheer Cade up. He knew that

he didn‟t like being cooped up in the garage all day and that he liked to be racing around in

the fresh outdoors – Cade wasn‟t wrong, he was built for it. Then an idea came to him. What

was that thing he had looked up online yesterday evening?

“Actually, I may have something that could help cure you of boredom-nosis.” His owner said

to Cade.

Cade looked up to his owner curiously, wondering what he was on about.

“You remember I bought the new Yober X2 games console last week, don‟t you? Well, I still

have the Yober X1 in my room, and I was wondering if you wanted it.” His owner explained.

“Really? Yeah, that would be nice!” Cade said, a little hint of cheeriness now inside of him.

But then something else popped into his engine, and it got him thinking. “Hold on, how

would I be able to hold the controller? My tyres are far bigger than your fingers. I‟d end up

crushing it just trying to push a button!” He added with a chuckle.

“Ah, you may think that, but I also have something else to tell you.” His owner then said.

“This company I‟ve heard have been making gamepads for livers like you so that you can

play games as well. It works with all consoles so it shouldn‟t be a problem with my old

Yober.”

“Game controllers for living vehicles?” Cade asked, very confused at what his owner had just

said.

“Well, yeah basically. Why should your type be left out on the experiences that we enjoy?”

His owner replied. “I have loads of games for it, so it should keep you occupied on days like

this. I also have the old forty-five-inch telly in the attic, and it‟ll fit in your garage easily.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let‟s get yer‟ stuff in my garage now!” Cade said, jiggling

excitedly at the prospect of being able to play video games for the first time in his life.

“Hold on, speedo‟!” His owner said with a laugh. “I need to get the gamepad bought first,

then I‟ll need to move the console and TV into your room, and then get everything plugged

in and sorted. It‟ll take a few days at least.”

When Cade heard of all the stuff that needed to be done first, he looked down and huffed

unhappily.

“So you‟ll have to stick out this rainy day I‟m afraid.” His owner said to him. “Tomorrow‟s

meant to look a little brighter and the rain will have dried up. You can go out and speed

around then. But now I have to go and order that gamepad.” He then left the garage, closing

the door behind him.

Cade sighed again and began fussing with a small toy car under his front left tyre. If he had

been given magical powers at that moment, he would‟ve wished for the rain to stop and for

everything to dry up and be normal again. But at the same time, he was looking forward to

being able to play video games for the first time in his life. He had seen kids and his owner

playing them, and they looked like tonnes of fun. Now that he‟d be able to share the same

experience with them made him feel a little merrier on this damp and wet day.

*

A few days passed and nothing much changed. Whilst it wasn‟t raining as hard as it was

before, it was still wet and very damp. Cade had been allowed to go outside during these

days, but because the roads were very slippery from the constant rain, it didn‟t give him

much chance to speed along them like he usually did. During those days, he only made visits

to his friend‟s garages and nothing else. He would then return to his garage and slump on

the floor as usual. He hoped that this bad weather would soon pass.

One day, the rain was very bad, and Cade‟s owner had told him to stay indoors. Like before,

Cade did nothing but lie on his garage floor and sigh. Then the door opened to reveal his

owner, who had a big box in his hands.

“The gamepad for yer‟ came today. You wanna have a look?” His owner asked.

Cade jumped onto his tyres when he heard those words. He had completely forgotten about

the new gamepad and games console his owner was giving him.

“Oh yeah, that! Sure, lemme have a look!” He said excitedly.

His owner placed the box on the floor and unboxed the gamepad. It was much, much larger

than your average game controller. The joysticks were on both sides of the controller, and

large buttons were on the top. Some smaller buttons were on the outside of the controller;

these were for the pause menu, and other features the console may have. Cade looked at the

large object in front of him. It sure did look interesting.

“Have a feel about with it if yer‟ wanna.” His owner said.

“Er…how do I hold it?” Cade asked. “One tyre or two tyres?”

“Us humans hold them with both hands so that we can use all the buttons to our advantage.

I‟d thought the same logic would apply to you livers.” His owner replied.

Cade stretched out his two front tyres and held the pad in them. He felt around the

buttons and shape to get used to holding it. To his surprise, it wasn‟t that hard to handle,

and he was able to touch all the buttons with ease.

“Wow, this is better than I expected!” Cade said cheerfully.

“If yer‟ hold on for a few minutes or so, I‟ll bring the console and TV in here, and I‟ll set it all

up for you.” His owner said. He then walked out of the garage and upstairs to get them.

Cade continued to feel the gamepad in his tyres. He imagined himself placing a racing game

where he was in first place, beating all the competition behind him on the twisty and

dangerous race track. He imagined himself in a zombie apocalypse, shooting away all the

zombies trying to infect him to become one of them. Oh boy, was he going to enjoy playing

the variety of games!

His owner then returned to the garage with the console in his right hand and a bunch of

wires in his left. He placed the machine to the left of the garage and plugged in all the cables

needed to make it work. He then walked back into the house and returned with the large

television. He placed it in front of Cade and plugged it into the console. His owner stood

back and looked at where he had placed everything.

“Is that alright for yer‟?” He asked the Skyline.

“Yeah, that should do,” Cade replied.

His owner then turned on the power button and the console booted into life, its fans

beginning to whine and whirr as to keep the components inside cool. After a few boot

screens on the TV, the menu popped up with a variety of options.

“Usually the console will have the game you put in automatically selected, so you shouldn‟t

have to fuss much.” His owner said.

Cade then noticed something on the console popping in and out. It looked like a disc tray

where you placed the games in. He watched as the tray popped in and out.

“How will I be able to put the discs in that?” Cade asked curiously. “My tyres are far too big

to put them in. I‟d end up snapping the tray.”

“Credit me for thinking ahead, kidda‟,” His owner said happily. “I installed all of my games

onto the console itself, so you shouldn‟t have to deal with the fuss of disc trays „n that.”

“Ah, I didn‟t think of that.” Cade murmured in reply.

He watched as his owner scrolled through some options and then opened one of them. On

the screen were a variety of picture and titles, all belonging to different games from different

genres. They sure did look interesting.

“Here are all the games I‟ve put on it.” His owner explained. “All you have to do is select the

one you want to play, and then you‟re in – simple as that.”

His owner then got up and headed towards the door. “I‟m going up for a nap. I‟ll let you

figure out the system for yourself.” He said, and with that, he left the garage, closing the

door behind him.

Cade looked at the screen for a few more seconds, and then picked up the gamepad. He

stared at the variety of games in the library. There were so many to choose from, he didn‟t

know what to pick.

“Ey, let‟s choose this one.” He said, picking a random game from the selection.

The game then booted up to reveal what it was: „Abelo Uprising‟. It looked to be one of

those zombie shooters where you went around shooting zombies and looting for weapons.

Cade was very interested indeed.

“Ah ha! I‟ve seen humans play these games before. I know what to do!” He said excitedly.

After selecting a few more options, he was in the game. Using the gamepad in his tyres, he

ran all over the map, killing different zombies and grabbing different weapons around him.

Guns blared and blood splattered as he killed all the zombies in the area. The bangs of his

gun as he fired it at the enemies boomed through the garage as he enjoyed the rampage at

his disposal.

“Oh yeah, headshot!” He yelped as he killed one by shooting it in the head.

For the rest of the day, despite there being a larger variety of games on the console, Cade

was just happy playing that one mode on the zombie shoot-up. He had never had this much

fun in his life, and his owner soon figured out with all the cheering and yelling from his

bedroom. But he knew his little Skyline was happy, and that was all that mattered to him.

*

As the days passed, the weather began to brighten up, and the once dull and wet town was

beginning to blossom and fill with colour again. The roads were back to their packed selves

with cars, buses and lorries traversing them up and down. The sidewalks had their people

returned as they walked up and down the lanes and streets of Chillwind. Everyone was quite

pleased to see the better weather return.

However, one vehicle wasn‟t too bothered about the changes from the outdoor world. Ever

since his owner had given him the new games console, Cade had spent every day inside his

garage playing on it. He had played half of the games that had been installed on the

machine and had not moved an inch since he had been given it. The only components that

had moved during this time were his front tyres as they pressed the buttons and moved the

joysticks. His owner had only realised that day Cade hadn‟t left his garage in a good while

and decided to visit him. He opened the door that revealed a lazy Cade, who was lying on his

frames and staring longingly at the screen.

“Cade, you alright?” His owner asked. “The weather looks much better than last week. I‟d

thought you‟d be out darting about like your usual self.”

“Eh,” Was all the Skyline replied with. He didn‟t even glance at his owner. His owner looked at

Cade, and then at the flashing screen where he was playing his games. A thought came to

him and he sighed loudly.

“Don‟t tell me you‟ve been playing that non-stop since I‟ve given it to you.” His owner

grunted unhappily.

“Nah, I ain‟t,” Cade replied. “Well…not mega…sorta‟ like that.”

His owner huffed loudly and walked in front of the screen. Cade paused the game in

response and gave his owner a dirty look. “Are you actually serious?” He protested.

“Cade, you cannot spend your whole life playing video games. You‟ll get square eyes!” His

owner said.

“But my eyes aren‟t square,” Cade replied.

“No, it‟s a figure of speech for someone who looks at screens all day.” His owner said.

“Staying idle all the time isn‟t going to do you much good. You won‟t be able to move as fast

as you usually do, and you won‟t be able to focus on the road properly.”

Cade gave a small sigh and pressed the off button on his controller. The screen went blank

and the fans stopped whirring. He then slowly got up onto his tyres, grunting loudly as he

did so. Because he hadn‟t moved in a good while, his springs and joints were used to their

current positions, and they whined and squeaked at all the new movement. His owner

cringed at the sound and sight.

“Yeah, you‟re gettin‟ oiled before you leave this place.” His owner muttered, and he hurried

off to find an oil canister.

He returned with one and wasted no time in getting his Skyline‟s joints and springs oiled up,

ready for the day ahead. Once he was finished, he placed the canister back on the shelf and

walked back to the front of Cade.

“I want you to leave this garage and not return until seven o‟clock.” His owner instructed.

“But…but…I need to complete the next level on Stackbomb to get the Gold Springer!” Cade

protested.

“Not now you aren‟t,” His owner firmly said. “Sitting in this garage has made you a lazy

vehicle, and I won‟t have that. Why don‟t you go and meet up with Zach or Sigrid? You

haven‟t seen them for a good while, and I‟m sure they‟re begging for a race with you on the

course.”

Cade glanced at his owner and rolled his eyes.

“You wouldn‟t want Zach to beat you again, would you?” His owner then added.

“Zach, beat me? No way!” Cade said as he roared into life. He reversed to the garage door

and pressed a button on the floor to open it.

Once the door was open enough, Cade roared his engine loudly and raced onto the

driveway and on the road towards the racecourse. His owner chuckled as he watched him

disappear into the distance.

“A little jab always does the trick with him.” He chuckled to himself, and then he went back

into his house.

*

Cade and Zach were roaring around the racecourse, seeing who was the faster vehicle

between them. Zach had won two races, and Cade had only won one. The two vehicles were

roaring towards the finish line. Zach pushed his engine to the limit and raced ahead. Cade

pounded his pistons and began advancing towards him. At the very last moment, Cade

roared ahead and beat Zach. He drifted into the spectator‟s bay and did a doughnut in joy.

“Ah ha! You weren‟t even trying that time!” He jeered to his friend.

Zach panted and wheezed as he joined his friend in the bay. “Alright, I‟ll give you that one.”

He muttered cheekily. “Anyway, where‟ve you been these last few days? I haven‟t seen you in

a good while.” He then added.

“Well, my owner gave me his old Yober gaming console to play on because the weather was

a dump last week,” Cade explained. “Truth was, I got a little too addicted to it, and it was

only until today I realised just how long I was on it for!”

“Eh, games are a little pest when they get to yer‟. They just keep draggin‟ yer‟ back in until

yer‟ done what it‟s told you to.” Zach said. “Yer‟ gotta‟ rise yer‟ bumper over it, and know

when enough is enough. That‟s how I do it.”

“You play games as well?” Cade asked.

“I got a Yober too, though it‟s just the X1 one,” Zach replied. “My favourite game is „Jersey

Heights Fighters‟. I‟ve been playing it for a good while now, and I tell yer‟ it‟s a pretty wicked

game!”

“I think I got that on my Yober as well,” Cade said. “Do you have any others?”

“Well, I have a few racing games to go with it, but „Heights Fighters‟ is the one I play the

most,” Zach replied.

The two didn‟t say anything for a while, only letting the wind breeze around their bodies.

“It kinda‟ strange, don‟t you think?” Cade then spoke up.

“What?” Zach replied.

“We living cars play racing games about racing cars,” Cade explained. “We cars are driving

cars.”

Zach took a moment to process the thought and found it very interesting indeed.

“Wow…that‟s deep.” He replied.

Another moment of silence fell, but this one didn‟t last as long as Cade came up with

another idea.

“How about you come around to mine and we could both play that game you were on about

just?” He asked Zach.

“Well, that kinda‟ sounds fun,” Zach replied. “And besides, I can‟t play on mine at the

moment because the CPU is broken, and my owner has sent it back to the factory for

repairs.”

“C…PU?” Cade slowly said, giving his friend a very confused look.

“Computer processing unit,” Zach replied. “It‟s what makes the console do its thing: codes,

binaries, sending and receiving information, it‟s a very important part indeed.”

A lot of what Zach had said to Cade had gone clean over his bonnet. The only thing he

grasped from that was it was a very important part.

“I see,” Cade replied. “But anyway, you still wanna‟ come sometime?”

“Yeah, sure,” Zach replied. “Three o‟clock tomorrow?”

“Deal!” Cade said, and they both shared a tyre bump between each other.

“Anyway, I need to go back to the garage now. My owner wants me to help look at this liver

we have in.” Zach said, and with that, he hurried out of the bay and back into the town

centre.

Cade was just about to follow him out of the racecourse when he remembered what his

owner had said to him. He wasn‟t allowed back in the garage until seven o‟clock. He checked

the time on his dashboard: it was half past four.

“Eh, I might as well pester old woodie‟ and see what he‟s up to,” Cade said, and with that, he

drove out of the racecourse and headed onwards to Clayton‟s garage. Being an old vehicle,

Cade was sure that he would be interested in what he had to say about his new gaming

console.

*

The next day, Cade was waiting for Zach to arrive at his garage. He looked out onto the road,

waiting to see a Ford Mustang driving down it. Eventually, he saw a familiar shape driving

down the road and turning onto his drive.

“Ah, so you didn‟t forget, no?” Cade said happily to Zach.

“Of course I didn‟t. I always make time to hang out with my friends.” Zach replied. “And look

what I‟ve got!”

He then tucked his front right tyre deep into his front right fender and pulled out a gamepad

similar to Cade‟s. “I even brought my own controller.”

“Oh yeah, that‟s rad!” Cade said. “We can both play together now!”

“Come on, let‟s go in and see what we have. I don‟t think I‟ve been in your garage for a

while.” Zach said, and the two friends drove into it.

Cade‟s garage was big enough to fit two vehicles in neatly, so there wasn‟t too much of a

fuss to get in. Zach looked around the place. It was pretty cool with all the pictures and toys

he had.

“I see you‟ve put some new pictures up since I last came!” He said, eyeing one of a sports car

racing around a track. “You also got some new gadgets too!”

“Ah well, you know me: I like to collect this stuff time to time. Another man‟s rubbish is

another livers treasure!” Cade replied as he pressed the button on his controller to start the

console up.

The TV turned on to reveal the console's menu. Cade browsed through the options and

pulled up the game library. Zach was quite surprised to see the variety of games his friend

had.

“Wow! That‟s a lot of titles you have on this machine! I almost feel a little jealous!” He

chuckled.

“They‟re all my owners‟ old games he used to play. Obviously, because I can‟t put discs into

the disc tray with my tyres, he installed them on the machine for me.” Cade explained.

“My owner does the same too. No doubt we‟d crush the disc tray if we tried to do it!” Zach

said.

“Never mind the tray, we‟d end up crushing the entire console!” Cade retorted.

The two friends had a laugh momentarily, and then Cade began browsing through the

games to see if he could find the one Zach had mentioned to him yesterday.

“It‟s that one right there,” Zach said, pointing his left front tyre at the game that was selected.

It was „Jersey Heights Fighters‟, his favourite game.

Cade pressed a button and the game booted to a flashy and colourful screen with the game

logo the most prominent thing on the TV.

“Let‟s play versus mode,” Zach said. “That‟s where we can fight each other and see who the

best is.”

“That will be me obviously.” Cade sniggered cheekily as he began looking through the game

modes.

“I wouldn‟t count your stars, roadrunner; I‟ve been playing this game for a good while now,

and have max levels on all the playable characters,” Zach said.

“Meaning?” Cade asked.

“Meaning I‟m very good at this game,” Zach replied with a smirk.

Cade huffed and went back to setting up the mode. He was going to trash him at this game,

and turn his boastful bumper into a humiliated wreck once he was finished with him. After

choosing some more options, they came to what looked like a character selection screen.

“He‟s the best!” Zach yelped as he grabbed his controller and chose a character called

„Jargutter‟, who looked like a bull with a very beastly build. “With him, you‟re not gonna‟ win

any matches!”

Cade ignored his boastful friend and chose a character called „Nardreamer‟, who looked like

your typical anime superhero, with a large cape and long black hair.

“You are joking, right?” Zach scoffed as he looked at his opponent‟s choice of character.

Cade again ignored him and chose a map to have their battle on. He chose one that looked

like the rooftops of a city against a dark black sky. When he was happy, he selected it and

the game loaded into the battle.

“Three, two, one, FIGHT!” A voice boomed as the battle began.

The two characters on the screen began hitting and combating each other with their moves

and special powers. Zach‟s character was a much stronger type and was able to inflict more

damage onto Cade‟s character, but Cade‟s was a much faster one and was able to throw in

sneaky attacks and dodge his opponents own. Both Cade‟s and Zach‟s eyes darted at their

characters on the screen as the battle progressed. Their front tyres rapidly pressed all sorts of

buttons on their gamepads to make their characters perform special tricks and combos.

“Wow, are you even trying to hit me?” Cade yelped as he jumped over Zach‟s beastly

character.

“You‟re gonna‟ cock-up eventually, and then you‟ll be begging for mercy!” Zach yelled back

to him.

Zach‟s character then hit Cade‟s and began falling off the stage. He pressed the button to

jump rapidly as to try and recover, but it was no use, and his character fell to the bottom of

the map. Zach had won the match.

“So much for the bragging, ey‟?” Zach sneered at his friend.

“Trap that bumper! I‟ll ruin you in the next match!” Cade replied.

The stage reloaded and their selected characters were back on the stage, their health bars

back to 100%.

“Three, two, one, FIGHT!” The voice boomed again.

Now that he knew his characters controls and powers a bit better, Cade was able to use that

to his advantage and was able to cause a bit of damage to Zach‟s character. But however,

Zach‟s character was still powerful and was able to land a significant punch to his. Halfway

into the battle, it looked to be neck and neck. Both their characters had the same health, and

both were on the road to winning the match.

“You might as well admit it, Z‟! I‟m doing much better at this game than the last!” Cade

sneered as he jumped and attacked Zach‟s character.

Zach, however, was concentrating on the match at hand and had a sneaky strategy to beat

Cade. During all of his boasting, Cade had forgotten to use his special power meter, which

allowed him to land a devastating blow to his opponent. Zach had filled that bar in and was

ready to land his final blow. He pressed a button and his character hit a punch like never

before. Cade watched in disbelief as his character flew off the stage and into the abyss. Zach

had won once again.

Cade stared blankly at the screen in disbelief, while his friend dropped the controller and

celebrated his win…by dabbing with his front tyres

“Get…on…my…level!” He said as he hit a dab with each word.

Cade looked at his friend and watched him dabbing, cringing slightly at the sight. “Please do

not ever do that again.” He muttered grumpily.

Zach saw his friend giving him a disapproving stare, and stopped his victory dance.

“Someone‟s bitter!” He chuckled slightly.

Cade grumpily thumped his right front tyre and then picked up his gamepad. He pressed the

next match option and the stage reloaded once more. Losing one match was annoying

enough, but being humiliated twice in a row made him more than ever determined to wipe

his opponent's character off the map, and his friend‟s smug smile.

“Three, two, one, FIGHT!” The voice boomed once again.

“We get it!” Cade grunted loudly.

The two characters battled long and hard into the match. Zach was able to bring some

significant damage to his opponent, but Cade had learnt his character better than ever and

was throwing in new attacks that were able to bring an advantage to him. Halfway into the

match, Zach found his character had been more damaged than Cade‟s.

“Wow, you‟re actually beating me for once!” Zach said. “Shame it‟ll only be for this match!”

But his words were cut short dramatically, as he lost focus on the game and saw his character

falling off the map. Zach tried hard to recover, but it was no use, and his character

disappeared into the abyss. Cade had won his first match.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh! Who‟s talking now?!” Cade jeered as he stamped his front left tyre on the

ground repeatedly in celebration of his win. “Prepare to lose the next match!”

Zach simply rolled his eyes in response and looked back at the screen, ready to begin the

fourth and final match. This one would determine who the winner of this game was. Both

vehicles were now more than ever prepared and determined to win the set of matches. If

Zach won the match, he would win. But if Cade beat Zach again, he would win. The stage

reloaded and the two vehicles waited for the announcer to begin the match.

“Three, two, one, FIGHT!” The voice boomed one last time.

Immediately, the two characters threw themselves onto each other and began the fight to

the death. For the first portion of the fight, both of them were neck and neck. Cade was

landing in sneaky attacks and dodging his opponents well, while Zach was still landing

significant punches onto his opponent‟s character. It seemed like this match would never

end, as both vehicles stuck out well and truly to be the winner.

“Come on, Nardreamer! Kick that fatso‟ off the map and beat this thing!” Cade yelped as he

rapidly pressed buttons on his gamepad.

“Alright, Jargutter! Ruin this anime looking wannabe and throw him in the abyss where he

belongs!” Zach yelled as he threw attacks here and there.

Suddenly, Cade realised that his character wasn‟t responding to his controls. He pressed all

the buttons on his gamepad, but nothing was happening.

“What are you doing? Fight, fight, fight!” He cried as he aimlessly pressed the buttons on his

controller.

Finally, his character was under his control again; but it was too late. Zach‟s character landed

a devastating blow than blew his character straight off the map and into dark, bottomless pit

below. Cade watched in horror as Nardreamer fell down, down, down, until he was gone.

Zach had won the game.

“Jargutter is the winner!” A voiced boomed as a victory screen flashed on the TV.

“Ahhhhhh, yeah!” Zach jeered as he did a small victory dance in reaction to his win.

“What?! No, no, no! That‟s not fair! My character stopped responding!” Cade protested

angrily.

“Oh come on, Cade, it‟s just a game!” Zach chuckled in response to his friend‟s tantrum. “It‟s

not the be-end of it all!”

“No! I wanted to win the game!” Cade roared in reply. “If my stupid character hadn‟t of gone

cold turkey on me, I would‟ve wasted your stupid bumper and ruined you completely!”

“Dude, you‟re taking this way too seriously!” Zach replied a little more sternly. “Look, let‟s

play again and I‟ll choose a weaker character for you to go against.”

“You know what?! Screw this stupid damn game!” Cade yelled as he grabbed his controller

and hurled it towards the ground. The end of it had a rubber part, and it bounced straight up

and whacked Cade in the bumper. Zach tried very hard not to laugh in response. Cade‟s loud

engine roared angrily throughout the garage.

“AND SCREW THIS STUPID DAMN TV!!!” He wailed. He raced up to the television and floored

his front left tyre through it. Sparks flew and glass shattered as his tyre penetrated through

the weak structure.

As soon as he had done that, he immediately regretted it. He pulled his tyre back out of the

hole and looked at what he had done. A large, gaping hole was now in place of where the

display used to be. Short, blue electrical sparks could be seen where the wires had been split

and cracked and shattered glass was all that was left of the screen itself. Cade drove back

and looked on in horror.

“Oh…” Was all the Skyline could vocalise.

The garage door suddenly opened to reveal a horrific sight. It was his owner.

“Wow, what game are you two playing? It must be very intense if it made you that

determined!” His owner said.

The two cars said nothing. Cade then pointed his front right tyre in the direction of the TV.

His owner turned to look and saw the ruined television. He looked back at the two cars. He

didn‟t say a word.

“My problem, not yours!” Zach quickly said as he picked up his controller and darted out of

the garage, hurrying home as fast as he could.

Cade‟s owner simply stared at his Skyline in disbelief. Cade in response gave a sheepish smile

and pawed his front left tyre quietly. His owners face then changed to a very, very angry

expression. Cade stopped pawing and looked down sadly. He knew exactly what was going

to happen next, and he was not looking forward to it at all.

*

The next day, Zach was busy at his owner‟s garage piling up some old boxes and barrels. He

had just placed a barrel on a crate when he heard a familiar engine vroom into the yard. He

turned around and saw an unhappy Cade in front of him.

“Roadrunner, how yer‟ doing?” Zach asked his friend.

“I‟ve had better days.” He muttered in reply.

“Come on, spill the oil and tell me what happened after I left!” Zach giggled as he rested his

front left tyre on a crate.

“Well, first off my owner went ballistic,” Cade began, “He told me I was a stupid car and had

let the game get to my engine.”

“Well, he‟s not wrong there, to be honest,” Zach said.

“After about ten minutes of screaming and venting his anger out on me – don‟t worry, he

didn‟t touch me, he took the console away and said I‟d never play on it again,” Cade

explained. “Well, that‟s just dumb! Just because I got hot oiled at one game doesn‟t mean I‟ll

be the same for the others.”

“Now if it was online you were playing, I‟m sure your tyre would be through the TV after five

minutes!” Zach said. “I don‟t know how many times I‟ve lost to people online, and that‟s just

the fighting game!”

“Yeah, I think your right about that,” Cade said quietly. “If games really do raise my oil

pressure to those levels, maybe I should avoid them all together.”

“Not really. All you have to do is learn how to control your frustration. I get a bit irritated

when I lose a match or race or whatever, but I don‟t go putting tyres through screens.” Zach

explained. “I may thump or stomp a tyre or grumble my engine in response to losing, but

that‟s it, and then it‟s onto the next game. Better your tyre on the floor than through an

expensive TV any day.”

“Well, even so, looks like my gaming days are over before they begun,” Cade said with a sigh.

“But I can‟t really complain; I brought that on myself.”

The two friends shared a chuckle and went silent for a moment.

“What are you doing today anyway?” Cade asked curiously. He noticed Zach resting his tyre

on the crate. “You modelling or something?”

Zach chuckled in response and placed his tyre down. “Shut up you!” He said cheekily. “I‟m

helping my owner around the garage today with some stuff, so I‟m putting all these old

crates, boxes and barrels out the way.”

“You want a tyre?” Cade asked. “I haven‟t much to do today and I need some fresh air after

yesterday.”

“Eh, why not? You can help me sort out these barrels that need organising.” Zach replied.

The two vehicles then got to work placing the old oil barrels into areas where they wouldn‟t

get in the way.

“Oh, and if you ever feel like it, and when I get it back, you can come round and play on my

console sometime,” Zack said to Cade as they placed barrels here and there.

“Really? Yeah, thanks!” Cade happily replied. “I promise you won‟t have a gaping hole

through your TV after a game or two.”

The two friends shared a hearty laugh between on another, and for the rest of the day, they

worked hard in the garage clearing up the yard.