EVIL SYSTEM

"Ta-Da!!" Dante struck a dramatic pose, spreading his arms with a huge smile on his face.

"This is your car?" Ben was already regretting his decision.

An old minivan in a fluorescent green color stood in front of them. The rims were rusted, and both the front and rear bumpers were in deplorable condition, as if someone had crashed into them multiple times. In fact, the minivan's body was covered in dents and scars that showed its age.

It looked closer to being scrap metal than being capable of taking a road trip.

"I call her Bedsi," Dante patted the minivan affectionately. "She might not look like much, but Bedsi has already taken me through two countries."

Ben inspected the minivan while Dante filled it up with the gas they had just bought.

The more Ben looked at the minivan, the more worried he became.

"Ben, get in," Dante seemed especially happy. He slapped the passenger door and invited Ben to climb in.

Ben hesitated for a moment but nodded.

He approached the passenger door and tried to open it.

But when he did, the door didn't budge. He tried several times, using more force, but the door wouldn't open.

"Sorry, sorry!" Dante laughed and opened the door from the inside. "This door can't be opened from the outside, hehe."

Ben didn't say a word and tried to convince himself that he had made the right decision by accepting Dante's help.

He couldn't be ungrateful.

"Alright!!" Dante shouted with his arms in the air. He started drumming on the steering wheel as if it were a set of drums. "We're off to Karto city!"

He took his keys, inserted them into the ignition, and tried to start the car.

Gigigigigig

A strange sound came out as he tried to start it, but nothing happened. Dante tried again, but the result was the same.

He tried over and over, with no success.

"Come on, Bedsi," Dante began whispering to the steering wheel while glancing at Ben. "I'm with a new friend. Please don't embarrass me."

Dante tried to start the car again, and the same sound was heard.

Gigigigi

"Come on, Bedsi, come on!!" His pleas seemed to be answered when the sound of the engine starting suddenly roared to life. "Yes!! That's my Bedsi!!"

Dante tuned into a radio station and began humming along to the song as he drove off.

It was very hot, so Ben tried to turn on the air conditioning, but all that came out was hot air accompanied by a musty, peculiar smell.

"The air conditioning doesn't work," Dante turned off the AC, which was only spreading that strange smell. "We just have to roll down the windows."

No sooner said than done, Dante rolled down the windows, and a cool breeze hit their faces.

"Much better!" Ben sighed as the breeze ruffled his hair, revealing the horrible scar on his forehead.

"I see you're team cold," Dante commented.

"Of course," Ben laughed. "I'd rather freeze into an ice pop than suffer with a sweaty butt."

"Hahaha," Dante laughed. "So you'd prefer a house in the cold mountains over a beach house?"

"A thousand times yes," Ben nodded. "Do you know how beautiful the view must be from up there?"

"Isn't the beach a beautiful view?"

"Yeah, but it's different."

"How is it different?"

"Everyone wants to go to the beach; it's usually packed with people. Plus..." Ben shrugged. "I really can't stand the heat. I'd rather have a delicious hot chocolate on a cold morning."

"You're a weirdo," Dante concluded, laughing.

In the middle of their conversation, they reached a traffic light.

Ben looked outside to distract himself.

Right next to them was a red luxury car. Inside were three beautiful girls who were looking at them and laughing.

Ben felt a wave of shyness wash over him. The girls were truly stunning.

Embarrassment flooded him as he realized they might have been listening to their entire conversation, including the mention of his butt.

Plus, seeing their designer clothes, luxury car, and then looking at himself and the minivan he was in...

"Step on it," Ben said, his face red, trying not to look at the girls out of embarrassment.

"Why?" Dante asked, pointing ahead. "I can't yet."

"Step on it!!" Ben covered his face on the right side and pressed Dante's foot to make him accelerate.

The minivan shot forward, leaving the wide-eyed girls behind.

"What are you doing?! What are you doing?!" Dante panicked. He quickly regained control of the steering wheel and drove as best he could while Ben kept pressing his foot on the accelerator.

Whew

Ben let out the breath he was holding when he could no longer see the girls.

Wee-oo wee-oo wee-oo

"Hmm?" Ben looked in the cracked rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of a police car following them with its lights and siren on. "Why is the police following us?"

"Why do you think, idiot?" Dante was sweating in panic. "Because we just ran a red light!"

"What?" Ben squirmed in discomfort.

"Yeah! I told you we couldn't accelerate, but you still stepped on my foot."

Ben scratched his head.

"What do we do?"

"What do *you* think?" Dante shot back.

"We should stop and explain our reasons to the police," Ben suggested.

"Wrong answer," Dante pressed the accelerator. "We have to run for it."

"What are you doing?" Ben's eyes widened in disbelief.

The minivan sped through the streets of Bampie like a bat out of hell. Dante didn't care about pedestrian crossings or the other traffic lights he encountered along the way—he just kept accelerating like a madman.

"This is insane!! You have to stop!!" Ben shouted, trying to make Dante reconsider.

"Bedsi doesn't have any paperwork. If they stop us, they'll take her away. Plus, if we stop, they'll arrest us!" Dante replied.

Along the way, several other police cars joined the chase.

Looking back and seeing the commotion and the number of police cars, Ben understood Dante's point.

"Then what are you waiting for? Step on it!"

"I'm doing my best," Dante was sweating. He had never pushed Bedsi this hard.

"Doesn't matter! Step on it!! Step on it!!" Ben panicked as he saw the police cars closing in.

Ben grabbed everything he could find in the minivan and started throwing it out the window to obstruct the police.

A pillow, a blanket, a pair of shoes, even a toolbox—everything he found, he threw out the window.

"What are you doing?" Dante shouted angrily. "Those are my things!"

"Do you want them to catch us?" Ben shot back.

Dante fell silent and kept driving with concentration.

"Oh no!!" Dante paled and pointed ahead.

Ben followed his gaze to see a barricade of police cars blocking their exit from Bampie.

"Damn it, stop!" Ben shouted.

"No," Dante clenched his teeth and focused. "I can get through."

"Are you crazy?!"

"No, I know I can do it..." Dante floored the accelerator. "Bedsi can do it."

"You're going to kill us!!" Ben screamed, holding on for dear life.

Dante accelerated at full speed, and just a few meters from the barricade, he swerved the wheel and headed toward a wall with a ramp for disabled access.

Ben's eyes widened as he realized Dante's plan.

The minivan flew through the air over the police barricade.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Ben screamed in terror, holding on tight as the car flipped in the air.

"Yessssss, let's go, Bedsi!!" Dante shouted like a madman, gripping the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, the police officers watched with wide eyes as a scene straight out of a movie unfolded in real life right in front of them.

Bedsi landed upside down, and the roof scraped against the asphalt, sending sparks flying. A second later, thanks to the momentum, Bedsi flipped back over with difficulty and continued down the now clear road.

The police could only stare as the beat-up minivan disappeared into the distance.

Inside the minivan, Ben sat frozen, staring straight ahead, his hands still gripping whatever he could hold onto.

"That was..." Ben couldn't find the words to describe it. "Incredible!!!!"

A second later, he started jumping with joy and excitement.

He stuck his head out the window and saw the police cars that were no longer chasing them.

"We just starred in a car chase," Ben couldn't contain his excitement. "And we won!!"

Dante seemed to finally process what had just happened and also started smiling excitedly.

"High five," Dante raised his right hand, and Ben slapped it with equal enthusiasm.

"Bedsi, forgive me for judging you so harshly the first time I saw you," Ben began petting the minivan's exterior. "You're definitely the best car I've ever seen."

"Of course!" Dante smiled excitedly, as if the compliment were for him. "Bedsi is the best!"

Ben smiled softly accepting her statement and with the strong breeze hitting his face he stared into the distance imagining his next adventures and hardships.

The trip had barely begun but it already promised to be very exciting.

A failed singer, a broken-down minivan and a traumatized murderer on the roads of Venice.

If that wasn't the promise of an adventure, then what was?