NCCS 3: Intimidator Rising

Now this side story is set on the hot Thursday afternoon before the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway;

Grim, the driver of the #40 Little Joe's Autos Chevrolet, is in his garage; he has just called his spotter and crew chief, Billy and Mandy, into the garage to let them in on the grand plan he's been concocting. Needless to say, the first half of this season has been hell for him, always finishing towards the back of the pack most every race, and with a string of blown engines to boot. Only now has Grim decided to take drastic action to get the second half of this season on the right track for him, and for that, he needs Billy and Mandy's help;

"Alright, Grim, what's the plan?" Mandy asks apathetically as she and Billy enter the garage.

"Ooh! Ooh! Are you gonna kill anyone?!?" asks an excited Billy.

"No, Billy," answers Grim. "We're gonna get a new engine! An engine that'll ensure our victories in the coming races!" he says with an evil laugh.

"Uhh... and that'll guarantee our wins how, exactly?" asks a skeptical Mandy.

"Quite a story, actually," replies Grim. "You kids know who Dale Earnhardt was, right?"

"Uhh, no," Billy shrugs.

"The famous racecar driver, stupid!" Mandy butts in. "You know, The Intimidator?"

"Uhhh..." Billy intones before Grim continues, "Yes, well, everyone knows of how he was killed in that last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Well what no one else knows, is that as his car went head-on into the wall and as his spirit left him, it became trapped in his engine. The engine itself was unharmed by the crash, but the rest of the car was scrapped, and since no one else saw any use for the engine, it was dumped in one of the many junkyards in this one-horse city; it's still there to this day. And the spirit of Dale Earnhardt still resides in that engine, restlessly waiting for an opportunity to go racing once again! This weekend, he will, in a manner of speaking, get that opportunity, and in turn, we'll be more powerful than EVER!!" he cackles.

"How, exactly?" Mandy asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Simple," answers Grim. "You guys are gonna get me that engine! Then we'll install that engine into our racecar! With the spirit of The Intimidator on our side, we'll be UNSTOPPABLE!!!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just upgrade our current engine yourself?" Mandy asks.

"No, idiot!" Grim snaps. "The NASCAR officials would catch it and punish me for it! That's not gonna happen. Now, then, take this paranormal detector. It'll help you locate that engine amidst all those other car parts.

"Wait, do you even know which junkyard it's at, bonehead?" snaps Mandy.

"I believe so," Grim shrugs. "It's just getting through all that junk - that's the issue, here. Anyway, I'm entrusting you both with this mission; call me when you get the engine or if you get into trouble. Now then, hold on tight...!

And before either Billy or Mandy know it, Grim's supernatural powers have teleported them both away from the speedway and into an ugly, depressing junkyard on the outer edges of the city of Daytona Beach.

Needless to say, Billy is stoked about this mission. "Oh, boy, I've always wanted to go ghosthunting! And I've always wanted to meet Dale Earnhardt! I heard that he wrecked a boatload of drivers back in his day! With him on board, Grim's probably gonna destroy the whole field every race, and-"

"Quiet, Billy!" Mandy barks. "I'm getting something."

And sure enough, the paranormal detector starts to beep. Mandy follows the signal, with Billy trotting by her side, until they come across it; a giant pile of sheet metal, rusted-out brakes, suspension springs, tires and other car parts, easily reaching up to be as high as two grown men.

"We have to dig through THIS?!?" Billy gasps.

"Just lose the shirt and let's do this," replies Mandy.

"Well, if it'll help us win race- wait, why should I lose my shirt?"

"Oh, c'mon, lots of men work without their shirts on."

"Well, why?"

"Because, you need to let your skin breathe. Plus, you might get some muscle going on, and besides, I would just love to watch you work!" Mandy adds with a suggestive wink.

"Um... OK," Billy blushes. With that, he slips off his T-shirt to reveal what is, honestly, an average body, at best. Even so, as he starts to dig into the pile of junk, Mandy neglects to do so, as she instead stares intently at Billy's body; the sight of which, though far from hunky, is still sufficient to make her drool...

"Uh, Mandy? Are you gonna help me out here, or what?"

"Oh... right." Snapped back to reality, Mandy jumps into the pile with Billy and begins to dig with him.

It is a long and arduous dig, with auto part after auto part sitting in between them and their objective. Even so, the dig - at least for Billy - is a treasure drove in and of itself; being rather simple-minded does have its advantages, as it lets Billy be overcome with awe and intrigue with every different kind of auto part he excavates.

"I didn't know cars were THAT complicated, Mandy."

"Well, it is said that today's cars are more complex than the Apollo space- wait a minute!"

"What is it, Mandy?"

"Billy, come here! I think I've hit pay dirt!"

So, with Billy's help, Mandy pushes aside the junk lying in front of the big object that she has found. Then, when that's all out of the way;

"Alright, PULL!!!"

With great force, Billy and Mandy pull the engine out of the pile and onto the ground, still in excellent condition after all these years. By now, Billy's muscles are strained to the greatest extent that they can handle, reducing him to literally lying flat on his back on the ground, panting like a dog to catch his breath, while Mandy is recoiling from the grease, oil and dirt that has covered her from head to foot.

"When I said this was gonna be a filthy job, I had no idea those parts were THAT dirty," Mandy groans. "I'm gonna need some high quality laundry soap when we get back."

"Could be worse," Billy shrugs.

"How, genius?"

"Could be raining."

At that point, dark clouds suddenly start to cover the skies, blotting out the sun. Lightning flashes and thunder claps, signaling an imminent rainstorm. "See what you did?" Mandy glares at Billy.

Billy says nothing; he simply flushes red with embarrassment and then takes out his cell phone to report back to Grim;

"Well, have ya got the engine?"

"You bet! Now get us outta here, it's about to rain!"

"Alright, hang tight, guys..." Then, right as Grim hangs up, he holds up his scythe, which starts to glow magically, and then, a second later, just as it starts to rain outside, Billy and Mandy are instantly teleported back inside the team's garage, with the engine in tow, still in the mint condition that they found it in.

"Ah, yes!" Grim marvels. "I can feel the power... oh yes! The spirit of Dale Earnhardt himself is among us, ha ha!"

"Well, now what, then?" Mandy asks nonchalantly.

"Stand back, you two!" Grim declares. And so, as Mandy pulls Billy back by the hand, Grim raises his scythe and bellows, "By the power of the Code of the Afterlife, I command you... RISE!!!"

A bolt of magic light shoots out from his scythe and blasts the engine, which starts to quiver, shake and rumble as if already having been started before even being installed in the car. Billy clutches Mandy's hand harder than ever as he watches in fear.

"W-what's happening, Mandy?" he stammers.

"We're claiming our ticket to victory," Mandy sneers.

Billy says nothing in reply; he shields his eyes, shivering as a grayish-white, translucent specter rises up from the bowels of the engine, swirling grotesquely as it takes shape...

And when Billy looks up, he, Mandy and Grim are all standing before the ghost of none other than Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator, one of the greatest racecar drivers of all time, if not the greatest! Aside from being a ghost, his appearance is no different from that of a normal middle-aged man, with wrinkles, a slightly balding head, and a large, prominent brown mustache. Billy and Mandy (especially Billy) are too awestruck to speak, and besides that, Earnhardt doesn't pay any heed to them anyway as he speaks;

"Hey Grim, what's up?"

"Long time, no see, eh mon?" Grim grins.

"Yeah, it feels like forever since that fateful Daytona 500," Earnhardt muses. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to go racin' again."

"It's just a shame Sterling Marlin isn't dead yet," Grim laughs. "But don't worry, mon; I've got his death all planned out! It's gonna be so slow, painful and gruesome that even-"

"Oh come on, Grim!" Earnhardt retorts. "You know I don't blame Sterling one bit for what happened that day."

"Seriously?" exclaims Grim. "This, coming from the driver that wrecked anyone who got in his way?!?"

"Hey now, I ain't got no one to blame but myself for my own death," Earnhardt says soberly. "I could've worn that goddamned HANS device, but bein' my tough, egotistical self, I chose not to. You know, Kyle Petty wore one in that race, after his own son was killed in the same way I was... seriously, do you know how many drivers have died from basilar skull fractures? It's freakin' ridiculous! I STILL can't believe NASCAR didn't make the HANS device mandatory until after IndyCar did! But... what's done is done, and here I am, stuck in this engine, unable to move on to the afterlife; believe me, if I could, I would! But I can't, and I just... I feel as if goin' racin' again would be the only way to get some relief, you know what I'm sayin', man?"

"I know EXACTLY what you're saying!" Grim cackles. "Which brings me to this proposition that I have for you; one that'll get you on the track again... in a manner of speaking."

"Ooh, do tell, Grim!" Earnhardt eagerly implores, intrigued.

"Well, I assume you know that I am currently driving in NASCAR myself?" Grim asks.

"Err... well, I did hear something about a bunch of crazy-ass cartoon characters takin' over the sport," Earnhardt reasons. "But how the hell did YOU get into it, dude?"

"Long story, mon," Grim says, "but my point is this; this is my 3rd season, and thus far, it's been horrible. I've only won one race so far, but that was at Talladega last season. ANYONE can win there!!!"

"Ah, Talladega," Earnhardt marvels. "You know, that's where I won my very last race."

"Well anyway," Grim continues, "this season has been the worst, mainly because my car has blown God-knows-how-many engines - our engines suck, mon! I could just tune 'em up with Underworld Tech, but then NASCAR would catch on, take my money, my points, suspend my crew chief, that sort of crap. I realize now that the only way outta this rut is a totally new engine; YOUR engine, ha ha!!

"MY engine?!?" Earnhardt asks skeptically. "Dude, it's been over 13 years since my fatal wreck; don't ya think this engine is rather, uh... antiquated?"

"Does it matter?" Grim retorts. "It has all the power it needs... from you! With your spirit, this engine will be invulnerable! And with you and I racing together, you'll be back on the track, and I'll be UNSTOPPABLE!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA...!!!"

"Wait, there's one more thing!" Earnhardt butts in. "You don't, by any chance, drive for RIchard Childress Racing, do ya?"

"Circle Sport Racing," Grim replies. "But we use Richard Childress engines, so who'd know the difference, right? Anyway, that's my propostion; what do ya think?"

And for what seems like a good half-minute, Earnhardt ponders this course of action before ultimately deciding, "Well, if it'll get me back on the track, then Grim, you've got yourself a deal, partner!"

"YES!!!" Grim shouts out to the heavens and down to hell. "Alright, first things first; time to unite your engine with my car, ha ha ha!!"

"Alright, well wake me up when our race starts." With that, Dale Earnhardt retreats back inside his engine to go back to sleep, while Grim eagerly raises his scythe towards his racecar sitting on top of the lift, starting to work the magic to carefully uninstall the old, crappy engine from under the hood so that it may be replaced with the engine that carries the essence of Grim's new guiding spirit, The Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt!"

"Well, I'm bored," Mandy shrugs from some distance away. "And tired. Come on, Billy; we're going back to my room to rest."

"Ooh, can I, uh, cuddle with you?" Billy asks bashfully.

"Knock yourself out," Mandy shrugs as the two walk hand-in-hand out of the garage, with much anticipation towards the huge breakthrough their NASCAR careers await this racing weekend...