Full Throttle Heart — 1 — Opening

[Montage accompanies opening Narration]

What is a truck?

Is it more than the sum of its parts? More than its frame, its cab and wheels? More than its ability to haul boxes and freight?

Is it more than just a truck when it's transporting life saving medicine, or hauling a family and their belongings to their new home? When the heat of its engine warms a blue-collar worker up on the way to work on a cold, cold morning? Or when it dispenses justice to the forgotten corners of a war-torn realm?

An ordinary box truck… No.

This isn’t the story of just any box truck.

On Earth 9H, Truck-kun was assembled in an ordinary factory, alongside thousands of its kin. Then it was sold to a big box retailer, transporting big boxes and sometimes smaller boxes all around the country. For years, Truck-kun was a faithful box truck; Faithful to the job, to its driver, and to the cause—delivering boxes.

But Truck-kun was destined for more.

~

[Theme Song — “Hātofurusurottoru” by Gunpowder Audition — Full Throttle Heart, season 1]

[Montage of Truck-kun fighting the Undead Legions of Liquid Shadow]

We spend our days dreaming

     Stirring in our sleep

     Driving through our lives!

Full of octane gas

     Open throttle (we’re gonna crash!)

     Can’t stop this feeling (in my heart)

Fiercest, only, auto-kun… Truck-kun (Truck-kun!)

Fiercest, only, auto-kun… Truck-kun (Truck-kun!)

Full of octane gas

     Open throttle (we’re gonna last!)

     Can’t stop this feeling (in my heart)

Approaching certain victory

     Fight the power (unleash the power!)

     Drown out all the cheering fans

     Defeat evil that controls the land

~

[Hard Cut to Joe’s House]

Joe Regular wiped his eyes and started up his work truck on Monday morning. It was still dark outside, and the Spring air was crisp. Joe sat there in the cab, waiting for Truck-kun’s engine to warm up, and sipped his coffee. Savored it.

That was the kind of man Joe was—a family man, an everyday warrior. The kind that worked hard, loved deeply, and savored little things as deeply as the big ones.

Back then, Truck-kun could only answer in a rumble of gratitude.

Joe patted the steering wheel of his reliable steed. “It’s gonna be a good day, buddy.”

Little did either of them know it would be their last fateful work day together.

~

Joe drove Truck-kun to the Old Factory, the one he’d been picking up boxes from since he was fresh out of high school. There had been other factories closer to the Big City, but Joe liked this one. It was the one his dad used to deliver for.

That was the kind of man Joe was.

Now that Old Factory was the last one in town, the only one that held out against the Big Corporation. All the others had been gobbled up, leaving the Old Factory standing alone against the unflinching tide of Late Stage Capitalism.

[Sad Montage accompanies Narration]

Little convenience stores merged together… Family auto shops were bought out by chains… Skating rinks and diners changed to used car lots and liquor stores… Playgrounds changed from splintery wood structures to unsplintery plastic.

As the world changed around them, Joe and Truck-kun kept driving. Kept working.

That was what they were made to do.

[Cut to Present Day]

That fateful day, Joe Regular and Truck-kun drove their last drive.

They delivered boxes all around town. Joe took the time he could spare to talk with the owners of the stores. Sometimes they shared laughs, other times their struggles. Sometimes they just talked about the weather, but Joe talked with them.

That was the kind of man Joe was.

Meanwhile, Truck-kun kept the engine and the cab warm.

Their next stop was a coffee shop, and as Joe wheeled boxes to the front door, he pictured coffee and mugs and even a coffee maker inside. He didn’t know for certain—he never knew—but it was the little things that made his day.

Truck-kun would forever think that it was fate, that the last time he saw Joe was in front of the coffee shop.

The manager had just finished talking about the beautiful weather and handed Joe a complimentary cup of coffee. Truck-kun was on the street, idling.

It was then that a rogue box truck ran a red light, lost control, and careened into Truck-kun. Metal screamed and tires were thrown clear. Truck-kun was T-boned in its driver’s side, right where the cab and its cargo hold met—right in its heart.

Joe saw the whole thing through the coffee shop door. Mouth wide and heart pounding, he dropped his fresh cup of coffee. It hit the floor and burst as Joe ran out the door and toward his truck, Truck-kun.

Joe fell to his knees, unable to speak.

Truck-kun was crumpled, its body twisted around the rogue truck, both intertwined in an embrace of death. Truck-kun’s frame was shattered, its driveshaft broken, its window pulverized. Gasoline, antifreeze, and hydraulic and windshield wiper fluid drained onto the ground. Truck-kun’s engine sputtered its last sputters.

While the bystanders and the other driver were moving away from the wreck, Joe stumbled over to Truck-kun. He leaned on the mangled engine compartment and listened to his truck’s final words.

Joe wept, his tears joining the stream of Truck-kun’s lifeblood.

In time, the police would come and take statements. Tow trucks would come and haul away the wreckage. The world would keep turning. Deliveries would keep being delivered.

Tomorrow, Joe would go back to work. He would keep going, because that was what he was made to do. Tomorrow, Joe would drive a new truck, but he would never forget Truck-kun.

That was the kind of man Joe was.

Honorable. Silent. Driven.

That was the kind of mentor Truck-kun had. That was the kind of man a truck would try to live up to.

~

[Commercial Break]

“The standards may change…”

[Quick Montage of people getting ready throughout history:

[Primitive hunter gatherers weaving shells into their hair.

[Ethnically sensitive depiction of warriors shaving the sides of their heads and concubines applying blush.

[Sailors getting matching tattoos.]

“...but the pursuit of beauty…”

[Continue to Quick Montage of people getting ready in modern day:

[Soldiers pressing their uniforms and shining their shoes.

[Businessmen and women adjusting their jackets and ties.

[Men trimming their beards.

[Both sexes applying beauty creams and makeup, dyeing their hair.]

“...is immortal.”

[Cut to Gnosis logo — white square with sexless, obscured face staring through]

“Gnosis. The next step in beauty.”

~ ~ ~