Meet The Drivers

Lightning Rod Goldstein, better known as L.R. Goldstein - grew up in a home where engines were always running and tools were never put away. His dad designed machines, his mom raced them, and Goldstein learned early that the best way to understand something was to take it apart. By the time most kids were figuring out homework, he was figuring out how to boost acceleration in a broken scooter.

When he started working in Boom City’s underground modding scene, word spread fast: Goldstein wasn’t just a mechanic - he was a prodigy. Tuning car after car, he realized something important: the drivers paying him weren’t half as good as he was.

So he stepped out of the workshop and onto the track. Goldstein drives with total focus. No wasted motion, no panic, no showing off. Every drift and every boost fits into a plan that he calculates on the fly.

When he triggers his skill, Nitro, it looks simple: one burst of speed. But behind it is timing, angles, and a perfect read of the moment. Most drivers don’t even understand how he passed them until he’s already gone.

He is chasing that one perfect run, where everything lines up exactly right. And every racer in Boom City knows: if Goldstein’s glasses drop down and he leans in, he’s about to solve the track like a problem only he can see.

He works with Ruby DeVille sometimes, trading data and tuning tips. Whether they’re partners, rivals, or something in between… nobody can tell.

Ruby DeVille was raised in the kind of old luxury Boom City barely remembers - statues in the hallways, crystal glasses, guards at the gate. Her family name used to open every door in the city, But when scandals hit, their fortune disappeared. Ruby learned that money can vanish, but confidence and intelligence don’t.

Instead of hiding from the world, she stepped into the underground scene. Ruby quickly built a reputation for being calm under pressure and sharper than anyone expected. She sizes up opponents the way the old families used to - watching their habits, learning their weaknesses, and predicting their moves long before the race begins.

Her ability, Slick Move, drops an oil puddle that messes with steering systems and throws rivals into chaos. Ruby doesn’t use it for cheap shots - she uses it to control the battlefield. She decides the pace, the angle, and the outcome long before a match ends.

Ruby’s main goal isn’t fame or cash. She wants one thing: to make DeVille a respected name again. She knows power now lives in the underground, and she plans to shape that world from the inside.

Rumors follow her everywhere - especially the one about her father secretly sponsoring Boom City legend Corey Carbon during his rise, sending him on ‘special deliveries’ he never questioned. Ruby won’t confirm it, but she won’t deny it either. That silence only deepens the myth.

In Boom City’s rising generation of racers, Ruby is the one everyone watches carefully. Not always because she’s the fastest - but because she’s the one they fear misjudging.

Toby grew up learning one rule: stay calm, even when the world isn’t. He earned his nickname “Donuts” for two reasons: his passion for the sweet, round pastries he treats like fuel, and the tight circles he spins when chaos is right behind him. Before racing, Toby ran jobs for small-time crews, driving getaway routes that twisted through Boom City like a maze only he understood - all while keeping a cover job behind the wheel of a garbage truck.

The garbage truck wasn’t random. It was the perfect disguise: slow, ignored, and able to slip through parts of the city nobody else dared to enter. Toby used it to memorize every alley, service road, and back-end shortcut Boom City had to offer.

After years of driving back-alley routes and late-night getaways, Toby finally got a real shot: a chance to race with the big players, instead of just driving them away from trouble.

He’s quiet and slow-moving when he talks, but behind the wheel he’s a natural. Toby waits for the perfect moment - he never rushes, never wastes energy. And while others burn fuel trying to dominate the track, Toby’s the one who quietly takes half the arena without anyone noticing. He’s the kind of racer people underestimate… right up until they lose.

His ability, Junk Pile!, drops a pile of scrap that traps anyone who charges too close. It fits Toby perfectly: let opponents chase, let them overcommit, then flip the whole situation with one simple move.

He’s known to hang around Francis and Uncle Felix. They all come from different worlds, but Toby gets along with anyone who prefers quiet over noise.

Whatever Toby’s past was, he’s not running from it. He’s just carving his own space in Boom City - one slow, steady move at a time.

Uncle Felix grew up far from Boom City, in a place where opportunity was scarce and the roads were rough in a different way. He left his home in the Middle East with one clear goal: to build a better life for himself and his family. Boom City wasn’t easy, but it was a place where hard work behind the wheel could actually mean something - and Felix took that chance without looking back.

His taxi, Baraka, is a rolling reminder of his past. The worn leather seats, the checker stripes, the Hamsa charm on the mirror - proof of where he came from, and why he keeps driving forward.

Seeing him grind endless hours behind the wheel never sat right with his son-in-law - a gifted engineer who believed Felix deserved better. He started designing autonomous taxis meant to take the load off his uncle, letting him finally rest. The problem was, the prototypes inherited Felix’s driving instincts a little too well. They were fast, territorial, and aggressive - more like hunters than helpers. The project was scrapped, the designs shelved… but never destroyed.

When Felix entered the racing scene, nobody knew what to expect from a lifelong cab driver stepping into the arena. Then he unleashed Station Formation - activating those unfinished prototypes, calling in a swarm of autonomous minicabs that lock onto rival trails without hesitation. What started as a family favor became a weapon. The message was crystal clear: Felix didn’t join the races to play around. He joined to win.

His son-in-law studied engineering alongside L.R. Goldstein at Boom City University. They never got along. Different minds, different values. Goldstein chased perfection; Felix’s family built for survival. That tension still hangs in the air - and when Goldstein meets Felix in the arena, neither of them pretends it isn’t there.

Felix is loyal, strict, and absolutely convinced the younger racers are driving wrong. He holds a quiet grudge toward those who never had to struggle the way he did - especially Goldstein, whose smooth rise reminds him that the road isn’t fair.

Felix cares about one thing only. He has his eyes on the prize, plain and simple. Every match, every turn, every risk he takes is for one thing - a better life for himself and his family. And anyone who gets in his way learns quickly that Felix isn’t here to entertain the chaos of Boom City. He’s here to push through it.

Veteran of Boom City’s armored brigade, Sgt. Woolington is a relic from a time when order and structure meant something. Even now, he still wears the brigade’s traditional kilt uniform, as if the program never collapsed. After his unit was shut down and quietly forgotten, he deserted with his tank, The Shepherd, and declared himself the city’s last guardian of public order - self-appointed, unacknowledged, and completely unbothered by it.

His tank is old but powerful, held together by forgotten tech, welded plates, and Woolington’s own stubborn will. Inside, it’s a maze of levers, blinking lights, and systems only he seems to understand. He treats it like a partner, not a machine.

On the track, Woolington doesn’t shout or show off. He rolls in with a single purpose: to bring “order” back to Boom City with the help of The Shepherd. His skill, Fire and Forget, unleashes a barrage of bombs across the arena - shutting down reckless drivers whether they see it coming or not.

He considers himself Boom City’s last real soldier, codes and all. The younger racers might not always take him seriously, but they’ve learned to respect the discipline and force he brings to every match.

Some say he and Uncle Felix share a quiet understanding. Both came from a time when the city aimed higher - and both refuse to accept what it’s become.

Woolington believes he’s racing to restore order to Boom City. Whether the city agrees… is another story entirely.

Francis grew up near the slow, quiet wetlands outside Boom City. He spent most of his life fishing, relaxing, and letting the world move at its own pace.

Drawn in by the hum of engines echoing across the water, he entered his first race by accident - and won it. Since then, he’s been driving for the same reason he fishes: the rush right before the strike. To him, racing is no different from the lake - wait, watch, and strike at the perfect moment.

On the track, he’s calm and unbothered. His skill, Go Fish!, sends out a precision hook that shuts down whoever it hits, stopping them before they even realize they’ve been caught.

For Francis, driving didn’t start as a passion. But once he realized he could “catch” bigger things than fish, the arena became his new obsession.

He spends time with Toby along the docks, trying to teach him how to fish - though Toby is far more interested in his donuts than anything in the water.

Francis may look relaxed, but the moment he decides to make a move, it’s already too late for whoever’s in his way.

K-ROD came up from the swamps on the southern edge of Boom City, where nobody gives you anything and every move counts. He grew up with nothing, learned to survive through hustle, and built himself up one scheme at a time. Now he’s living loud - flashy clothes, shiny things, and the slickest low rider in the city.

But all that style covers up someone who never stopped grinding. K-ROD is always plotting, always chasing the next angle, and always thinking two steps ahead. He may look like he’s already made it, but he still works like he has everything to prove. For him, second place isn’t good enough.

His ability, Beware Of the Crocks, turns his turf into a dangerous swamp where lurking crocodiles punish anyone reckless enough to stay too long. K-ROD protects what’s his, and anyone who forgets that usually learns the hard way.

He and Francis come from similar roots near the wetlands outside Boom City, but they grew into very different people. Francis stayed calm, quiet, and patient. K-ROD turned that same hunger into ambition, swagger, and a need to be the best. Still, Francis is one of the only people who really understands him. Around him, K-ROD lets his guard down a little - though not enough for most people to notice.

In Boom City, K-ROD doesn’t just want to win. He wants everyone to know exactly who beat them.