Chapter 10

12 Years Ago

The Grand Prix of Menagerie was for the drivers usually one of the most anticipated of the year. It had nothing to do with the race itself. Menagerie was populated almost entirely by Faunus. They usually had precious little to celebrate, so when the Grand Prix came to town it was all wild parties and merriment. The parties surrounding this race put the others to shame. It was a time for the drivers and mechanics to really cut loose. The track was also conveniently located amongst the dunes of the island's southern shore, meaning sun and fun at the seaside within view of the circuit. This year was different. Events elsewhere had put a damper on the proceedings and no one was in the mood to party.

The Schnee Automotive team were conspicuous in their absence, but that was entirely understandable given the circumstances. They and the Faunus had never seen eye-to-eye. Their factories were staffed almost entirely by Faunus and rumor had it that the working conditions were atrocious, bordering on slavery and torture. Normally when they came to Menagerie, that resulted in a lot of booing and obscene gestures. Occasionally there would be a protest. It never took away from the fun though.

Then just a month earlier, back in Atlas, something more extreme had taken place. A Faunus employee of Schnee Automotive had attacked the Schnee family with a machete. Before he could be stopped he grievously wounded the family matriarch, a mother of two and the husband of the company president. Now she lay in a coma, the prospects for her ever waking up slim. When captured the assailant had claimed to act in the name of all Faunus, avenging those mistreated by the family over the years. There had been occasional violence directed against the company, usually in the form of sabotage, but this was the first time blood had been shed.

Schnee Automotive had immediately withdrawn from the Grand Prix of Menagerie, citing the safety of team personnel. No one really blamed them. The people of Menagerie knew the whole incident was bad for them as well. The Faunus were an oppressed minority, no one would honestly dispute it, but violence like this was only likely to make their lot worse. There were already calls within Atlas for an invasion of Menagerie. Suddenly the Grand Prix was less an occasion to celebrate than a reminder of the looming storm clouds. Even so, the show had to go on.

Present Day

The Grand Prix of Menagerie had regained its reputation for off-the-track fun. The events that had taken place just over a decade earlier were not forgotten however. The Schnee Automotive team came to the track with an armed guard staffed by an elite unit from the Atlesian military. Weiss too was accompanied by guards, though she was opposed to the idea. She wanted to do everything in her power to distance herself from her family and being surrounded by soldiers in their pay was a constant reminder of who she was. More soldiers, from Mistral to make it acceptable to the local authorities, were in charge of overall security at the track. It had been this way since the incident.

"Don't you think this is a little insane?" Blake asked.

"Yes." Weiss replied. "But I suppose it's necessary. You can't trust them after all."

"Who's them?" Blake said. "The Faunus? Do you have any idea just how racist you sound?"

"I speak from experience." Weiss said. "If you'd been...I don't want to talk about it. I hate coming here."

"I'm not really a fan of this place, but for an entirely different reason." Yang said. "I think the Schnee team is going to run away with this one. This is just another power track."

"We should be best of the rest though." Ruby said. "I don't think anyone else can compete with us right now. If we get some luck we could have a shot at winning."

"One of you should be able to get on the podium at least." Blake said.

The green flag was unfurled and the first practice session was underway. Weiss was already sitting in her car and ready. Being on track and driving would be a welcome distraction and she intended to spend every possible moment doing just that. She and Winter were the first cars on track, to the surprise of no one really. From the fans there was no booing, just an oppressive silence. No one was quite sure if it signaled respect, contempt or outright fear.

The practice sessions were incredibly predictable. Winter lead from Penny, and then came the rest. There was a difference however. Yang and Weiss were both very close. The sizable gap that had separated the Schnee cars from everyone else seemed to be gone. Coffee Inc. and Phase Two took up their usual spots fighting with each other, exchanging positions 5-8 between them. Sun and Neptune came next, a decent distance back. After that was Pyrrha, the track and her car did not agree with each other. WFR was a locally based team staffed entirely by Faunus. They were faster than they had been all year, much to the crowd's enjoyment. Jaune slotted in just behind them despite a few off-track excursions.

Practice times could be deceiving, so time trials would really show what the various teams had. As the end of the session neared the Schnee pair led in their usual order with Yang and Weiss further than expected behind in third and fourth. As things shook out in the waning moments, Weiss would be the last to run.

Weiss whipped her car through the fast final corner named Forest and onto the West Straight, the start/finish straight. She tore across the line to start her lap. Heading slightly downhill she was hard on the brakes on entry to the tight, banked right-hand hairpin that was the first turn, Wildman. She accelerated out, controlling the wheelspin, and headed for the next corner, Faunus. The braking zone went through a slight left on entry to the tight right-hander that crested a hill. Weiss' car got light and slid as it rounded Faunus but she controlled it and shot down into the left-hand hairpin, Founder's Corner. After that initial complex of tight corners, the rest of the track was fast and flowing.

Weiss blasted out of the hairpin, over a crest and out into the dunes. The track lazily meandered right, left and right again, before Weiss had to slow for the hard right-hander called Disconnect. She slid through the corner and got a good launch into the stretch called Dog-Leg for the flat-out left-hand kink at its halfway point. After that Weiss careened through the flat-out series of three right-handers called the East Tunnel. After a flat-out left she had to slow slightly for the right-hand Forest. Her tires screamed as she pushed them to the edge of traction and the edge of the pavement on the exit of the corner, blasting onto the West Straight and across the line to complete her lap.

Weiss had felt good about her lap but she was to be disappointed. Winter and Penny held onto the top two spots but the news got worse. Both Phase Two cars had gotten ahead of Yang and Weiss on their final runs, putting Mercury and Emerald third and fourth. Then came Yang who just edged out Weiss for fifth. After that was Coco, Yatsuhashi, Neptune, Sun and Pyrrha. It was a disheartening result for Beacon GP. It looked like they had gone from fighting for the win to struggling just to get a podium finish.

Race day was sunny, not a cloud in the sky. A cool sea breeze made for moderate temperatures, and the good weather guaranteed a huge crowd. The fans were not thrilled to see Winter starting on pole, again, but the locals did have something to cheer about. Local all-Faunus team WFR had its best qualifying results of the year, twelfth and thirteenth. Faunus Sun Wukong was starting a strong ninth and could score points with a little luck.

After their parade lap the cars rolled onto the grid for the start. The starter raised his flag and the drivers revved their engines. The flag dropped, much more quickly than usual, and they were off. The cars roared down into the first turn and the chaos from the previous race was repeated. Penny slowed on the inside line to allow Winter to pull in front of her and take the preferred line through the corner. Emerald was caught out and plowed into the back of Penny's car. Penny's vehicle spun up the track and collected Mercury, all three wrecked cars sliding off the track.

Yang jumped into second and Weiss to third as they drove past the carnage. The rest of the field made it through clean. The big side-effect of the crash was that Winter now had a huge lead. Yang and Weiss were in hot pursuit but unable to make any headway over that opening lap. By the end of the first lap Yatsuhashi had managed to get in front of Coco, with Neptune, Sun and Pyrrha running behind them in the order in which they had started the race.

The top three continued to pull away, and two Schnees headed for a podium seemed to take the life out of the crowd. Matters were not helped when WFR's Tukson retired from the race with engine trouble. There was a little for them to cheer about as Sun came to life, passing his teammate and mixing it up with the Coffee Inc. pair. Pyrrha hung on further back, her car not up to the task.

The wind picked up as the race neared the halfway point, blowing sand onto the track in some places, creating slippery conditions. The trio at the front handled it well and continued to pull away, Winter maintaining a lead of several seconds over Yang who had put a little distance on Weiss. Yatsuhashi and Coco struggled with the changing conditions but Sun did not. In a daring move he dove to the right of Coco on entry to Wildman, left his braking as late as possible and got alongside Yatsuhashi by the time they reached the corner. He beat the veteran on exit and pulled away to the thunderous cheering of the crowd.

On lap 62 Winter still had a big lead. She tore through the Dog-Leg. In front of her was a slow car. It was Adam Taurus of WFR whose engine was missing. With only a split-second to react she moved to the left, just enough to clear the slow car on entry to the East Tunnel. Just before she was past, Adam's car edged left, his left front wheel meeting Winter's right rear. Winter's car was pitched into a high-speed tumble, rolling end over end before coming to rest in the sand just off the track.

Yang saw it all just as she rounded the Dog-Leg. She could see Winter flopping around in the cockpit, the wheels flying off in different directions, and alarmingly a spray of liquid that could only have come from a ruptured fuel tank. On the other side of the track, Adam had come to a stop, leapt from his car and headed away from Winter. He was not going to help. As Yang closed in on where Winter's car sat she could see that the driver was not moving. There were no track workers nearby. She had a decision to make.

Yang slammed on the brakes, pulling her car off the side of the track just past where Winter's had come to rest. Yang jumped out of her car and rushed to Winter. She could smell fuel before she saw it pouring from one of the side fuel tanks. There was luckily no fire yet, but there certainly would be in a few seconds. Winter was slumped over to the left, her left arm hanging over the side of the car with a gruesome compound fracture. Winter was groaning but unconscious.

Aside from her arm and a cut on her head caused by her helmet, Winter seemed to be mostly intact. Yang lifted her head. "Come on Winter, you have to get out." She said, gently shaking the driver.

"My arm…" Winter groaned. She made no movements to help free herself, slipping in and out of consciousness. "I was winning…"

Yang reached down into the cockpit and struggled to undo Winter's belts. The latch was a different design than Yang was used to and it took precious seconds to figure it out. She reached under Winter's shoulders. "You've got to help me." Yang said. Winter groaned and placed her right arm on Yang's back but did not really help. Then the fuel found something hot. A fireball engulfed the car and Yang staggered back away from the flames. "Shit! Winter!" She shouted and rushed back to the car. She reached under Winter's shoulders again, flames licking at both of them. There was no time to be gentle. Yang lifted with all her might and wrenched Winter out of the burning car. She dragged Winter a few meters away and laid her flat on the ground. Winter was still breathing, a very good sign all things considered.

Weiss had passed by before the fire, confused about what in the world Yang was thinking. Weiss swept into the lead and continued on. As she rounded the track and came by again she saw the flames. Winter's car was completely engulfed, both she and Yang nowhere to be seen. Weiss felt sick but kept going. There was nothing she could do now. Over the next few laps, marshals from all over the track began arriving, fighting the fire with woefully inadequate fire extinguishers. Weiss caught a glimpse of an ambulance leaving the scene. She badly wanted to stop but she kept driving.

Word of the crash spread quickly. Winter and Yang were on the way to the hospital. "Ruby, if you want I can take you to the hospital to meet them right now." Ozpin offered. "There's nothing more you can do here anyway."

"That's...I'd like that." Ruby said, panic in her voice.

Just then James Ironwood arrived at the Beacon GP garage. "Both of my cars are out so I'm going to the hospital with Penny." He said. "Do any of your people want to go with us?"

"I...I'll go with him." Ruby said. "You can stay here in case Weiss wins."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Ozpin asked.

"I'm sure." Ruby replied.

Ruby followed Ironwood and Penny to the parking lot. Ironwood had a large, elegant sedan, specially modified so he could shift with his left hand. His prosthetic right arm was good enough for him to use for steering, and Ruby was genuinely impressed with his skill as he drove from the track to the hospital at alarming speed.

"I'm sorry to hear that your sister was hurt." Penny said.

"I'm sorry about your teammate." Ruby said.

"I am sure they'll both be alright." Penny assured her. Penny was...different to say the least. She was socially awkward but seemed oblivious to the fact for one. She also seemed far too innocent to be a racing driver. Drivers were not all serious all the time, but there was always something to their character, something you could see in their eyes, that betrayed a constant concern, maybe a fear. Racing was dangerous and any one of them could end up dead in any given race. That seemed to be missing in Penny. She seemed blissfully unaware of the danger she faced. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, every driver had one. Ruby did not think so though.

In any case, Ruby did not want to talk about the wounded. "So, how did you get your start in racing?" Ruby asked.

"I was a test driver at the Schnee Automotive factory." Penny replied. "Mr. Ironwood was very impressed with my driving and hired me to race when Weiss decided not to join the team."

"So you never raced before this year?" Ruby gasped.

"No." Penny confirmed. "I didn't even know what Formula 1 was. I was never interested in racing, but it seemed like fun. I do like to drive fast."

"That's...incredible." Ruby said in shock. Now she knew why Penny was not afraid. She did not know she should be afraid. Ruby wanted to say something, to give Penny some warning, but she did not have the heart.

Ironwood brought the car to a sudden halt in front of the hospital. "Let's go." He said as he jumped out of the car. He rushed inside, followed closely by Ruby and Penny. A nurse directed them to Winter and Yang's room.

Weiss won the race easily. Then came the shock. As she rolled around the track on her cool-down lap, the fans cheered her. Word had spread of her sister's accident and their resentment had been replaced by sympathy and admiration for her heroic effort to keep going. For Weiss it was both thrilling and disconcerting. Granted, they cheered more loudly when Sun drove by, having just finished a stunning second. Third across the line was Yatsuhashi, followed by Coco, Neptune and Pyrrha to round out the points-paying positions.

Weiss made her way to the winner's circle and took her spot atop the podium, but there was no celebrating. She hung her head, praying for her sister and her teammate as the Atlesian national anthem played. When she was handed her trophy some of the fans cheered, but most remained silent. She immediately departed, joining Ozpin and Blake to go to the hospital. After she left Sun gave the assembled crowd permission to do some celebrating, but asked that they be respectful. No one at the track yet knew Yang and Winter's conditions.

Weiss rode to the hospital in silence. She had already buried her mother and had no desire to lose her sister as well. Blake and Ozpin had both tried to encourage her but she had not really heard them, confining herself to her own thoughts.

Weiss rushed through the hospital to her sister's room. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found. Winter sat in her hospital bed sporting a big smile, Yang, Ruby and Penny laughing around her. "Oh, hey Weiss." Winter said as her sister burst in. "I'm sorry I worried you." Weiss stood there stunned. Winter did not look great. One side of her face was bandaged, her left arm was in a cast and her right arm was bandaged as well.

"Your sister was just telling us some stories about when you were kids." Yang said. Both of Yang's hands and forearms were wrapped in bandages and there appeared to be some minor burns on her face. "We're all really happy you won the race. Did you bring the champagne?"

"What were you thinking?" Weiss demanded, stomping over to Yang. "You had that race won!"

That was not the reaction Yang was expecting. "Well, it was either that or let your sister die." Yang said. "I know you two don't always see eye-to-eye but I thought you'd be happy."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you saved her." Weiss said. "But that was your race. No one pulls over like that. Even the backmarkers didn't stop to help."

"I know firsthand what it's like to lose someone I care about at the track." Yang said. "I don't ever want anyone else to have to go through that."

"Yang, you made the wrong choice." Winter said. "Weiss is right. You should have gone on and won the race. I know the risks, and I'm resigned to whatever fate is in store for me. That said, you'll be glad you stopped. I once had a similar choice to make, and I made the other one. I won the championship, but I've never stopped regretting it."

"Winter...I…" Yang started.

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't cost you a shot at the title." Winter said.

"Well, I'm glad you helped her I guess." Weiss said. "Not like that Faunus scumbag. He took you out then just walked away to let you burn. Honestly, does their depravity know no bounds?"

"Maybe you shouldn't…" Penny started.

"I hate it here." Weiss continued. "I can't stand being surrounded by them. They're monsters."

"You should watch what you say." Blake growled.

"Why?" Weiss asked. "Are you too much of a bleeding heart to handle the truth?"

"No, because of who works on your car!" Blake shouted. She pulled off her hat to reveal a pair of extraneous cat ears. "Yeah, that's right."

"Blake...I had no idea." Weiss gasped. No wonder she never removed her hat. Weiss had thought it just a quirk.

"Blake?" Winter said. "As in Blake Belladonna?"

"The same." Blake said, still seething.

"You worked in our R&D Department." Winter said. "I remember you. I recommended you be promoted."

"And your father categorically refused to promote a Faunus." Blake said. "I see at least one apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree." Blake stormed out.

"Weiss, what the hell?!" Yang demanded. "I thought you were finally turning into a decent person. How can you be so bigoted?"

"They killed my mother." Weiss said, suddenly on the defensive.

"That's no excuse for blind hatred." Winter said. "I thought that's why you didn't sign with Schnee. Because you didn't want to be like father."

"It is...I just...I…" Weiss had no answer. "I'm sorry but with what happened to you…"

"If you're sorry, I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Winter said. "Go apologize to Blake if you're really sorry."

Weiss walked out. She went to look for Blake but she had already taken a taxi to the airport. If Weiss was going to apologize it would have to wait for the next race. Until then she returned to her sister's room. "Blake already left." She said. "She probably wouldn't want to hear it anyway."

"Then apologize the next time you see her." Ozpin said. "I'll try to calm her down in the meantime."

"Blake was always very nice to me." Penny said. "I tested out a lot of her designs. She's very talented."

"I feel like this is partially my fault." Winter said. "Without my accident, I doubt the argument would have occurred."

"How could it be your fault?" Yang asked. "The crash wasn't even your fault. Weiss just needs to get some things sorted out."

"I feel terrible." Weiss said.

"You should." Ruby said. "But that's a good start. Please don't do it again."

Standings after five races:

1st - Winter Schnee - 24

2nd - Pyrrha Nikos - 18

3rd - Weiss Schnee - 17

4th - Penny Polendina - 15

5th - Yang Xiao-Long - 14

6th - Yatsuhashi Daichi - 11

7th - Coco Adel - 10

8th - Sun Wukong - 8

9th - Mercury Black - 3

9th - Emerald Sustrai - 3

11th - Neptune Vasilias - 2

Inspirations

- Politics and motorsports often mix, and it's rarely good.

- Menagerie is based on Zandvoort.

- Winter's accident is based on the fatal crash of Roger Williamson (Zandvoort, 1973) with a much happier ending of course. It's a story of true heroism on the part of David Purley who pulled over in an unsuccessful attempt to save his friend, and also one of the most tragic things I've ever seen.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- Thankfully no real-life F1 team has ever needed armed guards at a race. Outside the track is another story, but it's not worth getting into.

- Again, a major first corner crash would likely result in a red flag and restart.

- A front-runner would never, ever pull over to help. A backmarker might, and even then it would be unlikely.