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Revenge. It used to be an alien concept to him, but that was just how the dice fell.
As a child, Danny Watson was run of the mill. Nice parents, nice home, nice life. Never really got into anything crazy, never gave his family fits (much). But, like many kids aged 3 to 10, he watched every cartoon he could get a hold of. None of this was out of the ordinary.
When he was old enough to start understanding those reruns of Transformers he kept watching, it was a different story. Suddenly his love for cars exploded. It wasn't out of the ordinary for a young boy to love cars, but while his parents expected his newest obsession to fade out within a year or two, this one never did. For almost a full decade, his love kept growing and growing.
By junior high, knowing it would be several more years before he would actually be able to get behind the wheel, he settled instead for running. His school's track team was one of the best in the region. Most of the stories from classmates pegged it all being due to one girl on the team, named Ronny Robinson, but he didn't really care about that. All he wanted was to train his body to reach the most towering heights. He would take his team further than it had ever gone before, all in the name of the speed he so desired.
That dream was ruined in a single one mile race. On that day, he understood that the stories were true. That this girl, this demon, was a powerhouse to be reckoned with on the field. He also understood that his classmates were assholes, because they spent the next several years repeatedly going on and on about how he cried like a little girl when Ronny beat him. He wasn't even crying! The damn dust just got in his eyes as he tripped past the finish line!
However, Danny was magnanimous, and put the bad points of the experience behind him, taking the rest as an opportunity to learn from his mistakes. As time went on, he got better and better at racing. He never did beat any of Ronny's multiple records, though he actually did get close in one of the sprints.
His skill at racing on foot transferred pretty well into skill at racing in cars when he finally got old enough to drive. One of his close friends had a mechanic for a father, and Danny spent as much time there as he could. By 16, he already had a part time job at the shop. He absorbed everything he could about how cars worked, and when he eventually got his own, he poured more effort into maintaining it than any other task he had taken in his life.
For a month or two, at least. By that point, all that effort was going into drag racing in back alleys, and lovingly taking care of his car became a distant, but important, second.
Working his way up the drag race ladder was difficult, but satisfying. Many opponents fell to him, and never once did he get tagged by the cops in any of the late night illegal races. The awards continuously showered on him finally slowed, however, as he learned of a new racer that was beating records and opponents faster than him.
It was that damn Ronny Robinson again.
Fury ignited in his heart, to an extent that surprised him when he calmly thought about it a few months down the line. He couldn't put it all behind him this time around; he simply hated this situation with all his being, and wanted to knock her out of the running before she could even come close to beating him.
So he got to work. He took all his remaining savings and invested them into making the best car his money could buy. With all the most efficient parts, his vehicle would be a force to be reckoned with, and no opponent wold be able to best him.
The fateful night came, and as befits two champions of the local drag racing circuit, a normal drag race wasn't good enough for them. The entire crowd took off to a special track at the bottom of a nearby mountain, with a rather twisty track. While drag races generally lasted a quarter mile in a straight line, this was going to be an actual downhill 20 mile race. Driving cars specifically meant for drag racing would make this dangerous, but they were both confident in their skills.
The race was epic beyond compare, and both cars took physical damage due to the track and each other. In fact, Ronny actually blew her brakes out 45 seconds to the finish line. Danny was ecstatic... but of course, his delight was premature. Ronny refused to let that stop her and took the victory, despite coming close to crashing horribly afterwards.
This time, Danny submitted to the desire. This time, he cried like a little girl, and didn't pretend otherwise.
Since then, his love for cars had waned a bit, but what hadn't waned was his somewhat unhealthy tracking of Ms. Robinson's career. He watched as she hopped into the pro races right out of high school, making an undefeatable name for herself. He continued to attempt to defeat that name on the drag racing circuit, knowing it wouldn't account for much, especially since she was no longer on said circuit and he was basically just trying to beat her (unbeatable, damnit) past race times. A few years later, when she became a Power Ranger, he almost rethought his opinion. Both of them had grown up in Mariner Bay, and there was no doubt in his mind that the Power Rangers were good guys for a reason. But this was something different. This was personal.
Finally, he hit on the perfect plan to get back at her. His racing ability just wasn't enough to beat her newfound popularity. But that wouldn't stop him, no sir. His new plan involved coming at her from an angle that had nothing to do with either of their most rampant skills. He had actually written a script for a movie, in which a young man and woman battle for supremacy on the racing circuits. The man would repeatedly lose to the woman, but the final dramatic race would involve his hard work edging out over her inborn instinct, proving to everyone that he truly is the best in the field.
Danny was currently sitting in front of a director named Mr. Lo, who he recognized by name from his years as a stunt actor, and who looked vaguely familiar, but as far as Danny knew, he had nothing to do with Ronny. The raised eyebrow and disconcerted looks the director was giving the script surely meant that he was moved by the story. Danny could feel the success in his hands.
Yeah. That would show her.