==Lap 5=

That following afternoon brought about mixed emotions. Chiya had won the auction race and acquired a luxury F-Zero ship as a token of victory; but with this victory came the revelation that Brock Blaskovitz lives. The Russian puppet's hostile nature toward Chiya in particular made one thing clear; Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku were not only poor, but they were also back to living in fear of the man. To be specific, Chiya and Earl could continue living in fear of Brock, as they had a year ago; Seppuku saw this as nothing more than a second round and another chance to humiliate the man. Brock's reemergence did not spike the interest of just these three, for it was against their knowledge that a second party enlisted much interest in the matter—the very man Chiya had just beaten.

Through the bright corridors of the Galactic Federation HQ—a tower of unmatched height—Dr. Stewart moved with a computer device grasped between his arm. His face conveyed heavy concentration and some degree of frustration; he came hot off the race and into his office, where he conducted a quick study. With no more than an hour of research, the man was prepared to express his thought on the matter with the second highest authority in the Federation.

He entered an elevator and pressed down for the top floor. As the elevator moved, Stewart gazed upon some photographs that had just been taken of Brock in the auction race. Pale, without expression, a unique eyepiece, and a technologically superior racing machine. It was not Black Shadow's intention for Brock to reveal himself as a servant of Dark Million—but Stewart was hot on the emperor's trail. There was a complex story behind Brock's return, and the doctor knew it to be true.

The door soon opened, Stewart proceeded forward into a tidy and very organized office surrounded by a window. This office had a perfect view of the Upper City, Lower City, and the Gambling Area. The doctor walked past an office desk and approached the owner of this HQ—Jody Summer, Chief Commander of the Galactic Space Federation.

The woman's chin came straight from the German land of Bavaria, with a face suggesting Baltic roots. Tall and with very long brown hair, Jody is a woman of beauty—though her cruel face proposed authority. With a character of such strength and resistance, one needn't doubt why Jody is the only person in the universe with the potential to make one as unruly as Lieutenant Seppuku tame.

"Doctor, you've been bested by the lieutenant's project, I see."

Stewart responded with a resistant smirk, "Chiya had the best of luck today, it was a well-deserved victory for her." He looked down at his computer and prepared photos of Brock. "At any rate, Chiya and I are tied up right now. Our next encounter will settle this friendly F-Zero shuffle."

Jody nodded, "I would hope so. As you can imagine, I'd rather not have a troublemaker humiliate such a respected person on the track. This would suggest that the Federation and its affiliates are weak, which is anything but true."

"Chiya's a troublemaker? What happened to giving her the benefit of the doubt?"

The chief commander turned away from him and continued alphabetizing some documents, "A year ago, perhaps; but I thought Chiya to be a smarter person." Stewart raised an eyebrow, Jody turned almost robotically and placed the documents in a messenger bag. "One year later and the Mysterian still resides with that drunk monster, who continues to ravage the Lower City each night. Her persistence with standing by such a man suggests that she has not moved past her criminal ways; I have no reason to support Chiya in her F-Zero endeavors as of this moment."

"Well, let's arrest him, then," the man proposed.

Jody chuckled, "Understand me when I say, I don't feel like writing ten or twenty condolences to the families of the officers who attempt such a task." Her eyes narrowed into slits, "I will allow Seppuku to continue cleansing the Lower City of those who take advantage of the street anarchy, as I always have. Be that as it may, I will take action if he ever brings his barbaric violence to the Upper City."

"I see."

Jody closed her bag and faced Stewart with an observant look, "If you wouldn't mind taking leave, Doctor, I must prepare for tomorrow's gathering in New York." She sighed with an almost depressed face, "Megan Valhalla and the rest of her Mjolnir Conservatives' Party will be present, and as you know, that particular woman will take any chance she can get at making me look bad."

Stewart shook his computer, "Ah, but I will be tagging along."

"Oh?"

The doctor flipped the computer screen around to show her the photos of Brock, "I queued for a request to have the reemergence of Brock Blaskovitz as a topic in tomorrow's gathering; surprisingly, it was accepted without question." He let out a silent chuckle, "I suppose my name alone spells 'credibility' amongst the high command."

"Brock Blaskovitz?" Jody put on an unimpressed face, "Yes, I noticed that the man was present in that race. Strange indeed, but hardly an issue."

"You're kidding, right?"

Jody shrugged, "Chiya claimed to have killed him, but was wrong. A gang member reached him before he could die, saved him, and now he's back as a racer." She shook her head in disapproval, "Come on, Stewart. You should know that in this day and age, such an occurrence is... uncommon, to say the least; but very possible."

"You're looking at this in a very linear way," he argued. "A man was shot off of a seven or eight floor structure, lived, and is now racing using technology never before seen by the human eye."

Jody raised both her brows and asked, "And what are you suggesting is the reason behind his reemergence?"

Stewart became silent for a few moments, then said in a soft voice, "There's something murky afoot, Jody. One does not simply crawl out of the Lower City after having lost everything, then return with more than even Captain Falcon can fathom."

"You believe there's an organization behind him?"

The doctor gave her a firm finger and stated, "If there is an organization behind him which is creating such powerful F-Zero parts, who knows what else they are capable of making." Jody swallowed with a somewhat distressed look. "If such an organization exists, it is our duty to shut it down and collect data on it."

Jody, having been influenced by his thoughts, nodded in acknowledgment, "You are absolutely right. Law enforcers struggle enough in trying to keep up with F-Zero criminals; we cannot risk having such powerful machines roaming around—they'll be unstoppable."

"Not just machines," he reinstated. "We must fear the technology in general that surrounds Brock and whatever organization he may ride with. Guns, vehicles, ships, ideals..."

Silence ensued as Jody looked out the window, gazing upon the metropolis of Mute City had her thinking deeply about this. Stewart's gaze remained strong as ever on Jody, she soon turned toward him again and pat him on the shoulder.

"Gather as much information on the matter as possible and bring a convincing argument tomorrow. The Federation must be made aware of this possible threat."

Stewart nodded, then turned away. "Very well. Best of luck to you with Megan."

Jody smirked, "Oh, we'll have a ball..."

Following the very fruitful auction race that following day, Seppuku decided that the team would travel to Mute City's starport and see their new ship. Both Earl and Seppuku were discontent with Chiya's decision to take the ship over the money, but she insisted throughout the day that it would only help them in the long run. The upsides of owning a ship was that it could hold at least three vehicles—a perfect coincidence, considering they owned three vehicles. With this ship, the need for planetary transportation via transport ships was made void; ever since Goroh attacked the transport the three were on while heading to Sand Ocean, neither Chiya nor Earl had been very fond of the transportation system. While both Seppuku and Earl were frustrated with Chiya's pick, Earl was the more forgiving of the two—to no one's surprise.

To start off the afternoon, Earl was examining all of his clothing for loose change; he wasn't broke, but was looking for anything that could buy him a drink at a bar. Seppuku and Chiya did suffer from the fact that whatever money Earl did acquire was often tossed away on beer or the Gambling Area of Mute City. That being said, Seppuku had horrid spending habits as well, leaving only Chiya as a rational spender—but alas, one with no source of income.

The Korean smacked his lips back before sighing, "At this rate, I can kiss going on dates a farewell."

"Ee—ek!" Chiya screamed from the bathroom. Earl jolted up in shock and turned toward his door. "What the Hell is tha—at!?" she panicked.

"Ch- Chiya..!" Earl panicked back.

The man grabbed his handgun and rushed into the hallway. He found that Seppuku was on the same page, having kicked open his office door with his long rifle equipped. The two ran to the bathroom door, both trying to open it at the same time. Earl shoved Seppuku aside and struck it open, he aimed as soon as he leapt inside.

"Chiya, what's wrong!?"

Chiya was in the corner of the bathroom trembling in fear, she had her handgun equipped and was aiming it down the center of the room.

She answered, "What the bloody Hell is that!?" she shouted with a finger at the sink.

Earl and Seppuku both looked at the sink, expecting some kind of danger; they could see nothing. Cautious, Earl approached the sink with his gun still drawn, Chiya had been shattered by something. Seppuku looked around the sink as well, not seeing anything in plain sight.

"What's the problem?" asked Earl.

Chiya stomped her foot down with a furious expression, "The faucet! Look at the faucet!"

Earl and Seppuku both turned their attention toward the faucet, then finally found the predicament in question—a spider. Earl's initial reaction was to jump back, having not seen the large arachnid; he quickly stabilized and hummed.

"It's a spider," Earl pointed out.

Chiya nodded, "Yeah, I know. Kill it!"

But instead of killing it, Earl lowered his gun and chuckled at the arachnid. "Ah, cool. It laid eggs all over the faucet, look!"

Seppuku smirked at the sight of the eggs, "Reminds me of that one movie we watched where the giant spiders we-"

"What the Hell is wrong with you two!? There's a bloody spider on the sink!" She crossed her arms and muttered, "Dumb boys..."

Seppuku swiped both the spider and its eggs onto his finger and turned toward Chiya. She reacted by pushing herself against the wall in an attempt to distance herself from him. The Mysterian began to hyperventilate as he brought the spider closer to her.

"Come on, Flower; it's just a cute spider. I thought you were all about cute things." Chiya aimed her gun toward Seppuku's hand in retaliation. "Whoa, okay, alright!" he said throwing the spider into the air.

Chiya ducked and cowered in fear with the spider and eggs now airborne, the assumption being that they would land on her. Instead of this, it landed on the floor and started running in a frenzy.

"Oh my God! Quit pussyfooting around and smash it!"

Earl rushed forward to crush the arachnid with his foot, the eggs were disposed of using toilet paper.

"Satisfied?"

Now calmer, Chiya exhaled in relief, "Oh my God, that was gross..."

The Man of Darkness shook in disapproval, "So, you didn't find anything gross about destroying Blaskovitz's eye last year; but you were disgusted by a small insect?"

Chiya stepped forward and began to wash her hands, "I don't know, it's different…"

Earl hummed with sudden curiosity, "Speaking of Blaskovitz…"

While scrubbing, the young woman looked over at Seppuku and asked, "Yeah, we didn't finish speaking about him. How's he alive? I'm positive that I shot him dead!"

The tall man nodded, "And on that note, where did he disappear to after that race?"

Both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes, having not considered this the previous day. After the race, Brock was gone—he left Chiya alone and seemingly vanished. Much was being considered by Seppuku, he too was baffled.

"Meeting in my office in five minutes. Afterwards, we'll go scout out the ship Chiya won."

Chiya wiped her hands over her shorts and walked out the door with Earl and Seppuku. She had a feeling that Brock's return and lust for revenge was a sign that a new dangerous adventure was about to begin. Brock was back and he had his remaining eye on Chiya; the team of three had to think fast on what to do.

A few minutes later, both Chiya and Earl stood present in Seppuku's office; the Man of Darkness was behind his desk. The return of Brock Blaskovitz was stirring fear into both Chiya and Earl; but Seppuku could only see unfinished business in the matter.

"So, Blaskovitz is back and wants Chiya dead." Seppuku waved his hand around, "What are your thoughts?"

Chiya, with a straight posture and serious face, raised a finger and said, "I, for one, do not think this is fair. Brock was the one who started the gang war, I-"

"Bendek, any thoughts?"

Earl hummed at the question, "It's pretty obvious that he holds a grudge toward Chiya because of what she did to him. But there's no way his shattered bodybuilding gang saved him—it must have been some kind of third party that rescued him."

"The Bloody Chain?" Chiya proposed.

"Child, please..." Chiya glared at Seppuku as he then continued, "The Bloody Chain were on the brink of extinction before you supposedly killed him.

Chiya argued, "No, not 'supposedly', I 'did' kill him!"

"Clearly you didn't, all three of us saw him yesterday in pristine shape."

Earl shook negatively at Seppuku, "No, Seppuku, she did kill him," he argued with a stern face. "He took a shot through the eye and fell off a tall building; one does not survive such an occurrence."

"His normal eye was red…" she added.

Seppuku rubbed his cheeks as he tried putting the pieces of the puzzle together, "A change in eye color can be done through surgery. Still, that sounds suspicious..." After taking a few moments to think, he sent his finger across the room toward a wall. "Flower, you like to draw; go draw Blaskovitz on the whiteboard."

Chiya bobbed her head, surprised by his request; she then looked back at a whiteboard he had recently put up in his room. Earl and Seppuku were both now aware of the fact that Chiya most often came equipped with a black general purpose marker.

"Uh, okay!" she answered with glee.

The young Flower proceeded to draw on the whiteboard, taking the utmost seriousness in performing the task. Seppuku and Earl, for a moment, observed her; she was notably excited to show them her art.

Seppuku looked back at Earl and posed a new question, "What about his machine? His bike. How did that look?"

Upon bringing this up, Earl's eyes widened with intense awe. "That is one special bike he has. Blaskovitz's booster could go on for nearly seven seconds before dying down, and somehow, it barely used up any energy!"

"Interesting and concerning; anything else?"

An affirmed nod was given, "He sent a racer into the air with a spin attack. You try and explain to me how a bike does that and-"

"I had an easy enough time taking him out of that race; he didn't seem interested in me at all…"

"Then, obviously, he only wants Chiya," Earl suggested.

Seppuku chuckled, "If he wants Chiya, he'll have to get through me, first!" he reinforced the statement by smashing a fist into his palm.

Earl returned a respectful nod, "Well, then we know she's safe. I don't know anyone who can beat you—besides Blood Falcon."

The compliment was taken in with respect and pride, but the last part had the Man of Darkness agitated. Almost as expected, Seppuku launched himself up in an abrupt rage.

"What are you implying!? That I'm weaker than Blood Falcon?"

Earl took a step back in fear, "Uh, well, I think we can all agree that we had our rears kicked by him on Aeropolis last year…"

"Idiot, we were evenly matched, but nothing can stop a Falcon Punch—nothing. He took the easy way out of a fight."

Earl scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, sure, but-"

"Flower!" Seppuku spun around and barred his teeth, "What's taking you so long!?"

Both men grunted in surprise, the whiteboard was now filled with drawings, most of which deviated from the topic of Brock Blaskovitz. A cute dull expression was sent toward the two men as she finalized her final drawing.

"Sorry…"

Chiya had drawn a very cartoonish looking drawing of Brock Blaskovitz in the corner of the board, but surrounding it were drawings of cats, flowers, and some of her, Earl, and Seppuku.

To this, the Man of Darkness shook his head and asked, "Chiya, what in the world goes on in your head?"

"Those are, uh, interesting…" Earl kicked his foot down and added, "Very good, Chiya."

"Thanks, that's Seppuku, you, and I" she said pointing at the cartoon drawings.

The drawings were very inaccurate for a multitude of reasons. The drawing of Chiya had a normal appearance, Earl's had sunglasses and much shaggier hair than he really has, and Seppuku's was missing his scarf, but more notably, he had an unrealistic large smile.

Seppuku pointed at the drawing of himself, "Wha- What am I doing in that drawing?"

Chiya smiled, "You're happy because you just learned that Chiya got a new cat and you're very happy for her, because deep inside you love cats. Earl's just hanging in his sunglasses because he's cool like that."

"But I don't wear sungl-"

"I hate cats."

Chiya dropped her jaw in amazement.

"Do I have a moustache on that drawing?" asked Earl.

Another drawing of Earl had a barber-styled moustache, "Oh, that's Earl if he had a moustache."

Earl grunted in shock, "Barber-sty… I- Is that what girls are into nowadays..?"

"You're wasting our time with your little drawings, Flower," Seppuku gazed at the cute drawing of Brock, "Let's get back on track."

Chiya nodded and turned toward the drawing, which was also drawn in a cartoonish style—not what Seppuku had hoped for. He had assumed Chiya would draw more realistic figures, given that drawing was one of her hobbies.

To start off the discussion, Chiya pointed to the eyepiece of the Brock drawing.

"The first strange thing I noticed, was his right eye. Granted, I did kind of blow it up, but what is it, exactly?"

"Obviously an artificial eye," Seppuku proposed. "Mind you, blindness is a thing of the past with today's technology."

Earl countered this, "But that's a very expensive procedure, nonetheless. How would a Lower City gang leader have acquired such an operation?"

For once, Seppuku accepted an argument as true and even added to it, "Yeah, and I don't think any regular hospital would have kept him a secret from the Feds."

Chiya tapped her finger on the board again, "Secondly, he had very pale skin."

Another answer was given by Seppuku, "Probably from losing so much blood after you shot him."

"Actually, no." Seppuku gave Earl an irritated face. "As soon as your body regains a steady blood flow, you should return to normal."

"Alright, Doctor. Why don't you just give your full analysis on the matter, then?"

"I'm no doctor."

"Drug overdose," Chiya proposed. "That can affect skin color."

This was a fine guess, but Seppuku dismissed it. "How about his machine; where'd that thing come from?"

"We already went over his machine. We know that it's fast, powerful, and has an abnormal booster."

Seppuku grinned, "Obviously, he is working with someone. There's no way he could have obtained those parts on his own…" Seppuku and Earl both contemplated on whether Brock returned as a servant or leader. The Man of Darkness turned and asked, "Chiya what do you think-"

Chiya was drawing another picture, this one of Chiya and Earl laughing together—only this time Earl had a lumberjack beard.

"Dammit, Flower; stay focused!"

"Sorry…"

Earl smirked at the new drawing of him, but shook negatively. Chiya seemed to enjoy putting random things on his face, but drawings of herself were all the same.

"I propose we go see Chiya's new ship."

Chiya clapped her hands at the proposal and added, "That I won!"

"My ship!" Seppuku argued. "The Purring Kitten was built with my parts in my garage!"

The Mysterian took immense offense to this, "It's my machine!"

"Mine…"

Earl shrugged, "Lieutenant Seppuku, Man of Darkness; proud owner of the very intimidating 'Purring Kitten'…"

The tall man grunted, "Oh, damn. Good point…"

Later on, the three arrived at the starport of Mute City, which was located in the Upper City. This area had several transport ships that would travel between planets; it could also store ships for people—at a hefty price, of course; hence the immense frustration over Chiya's decision to take a ship.

Chiya had taken the Purring Kitten, while Seppuku and Earl took the Red Dove; the Purring Kitten lacked the capacity for two passengers—the greatest peeve Chiya had with her machine. Now at the starport, the three parked their machines and walked together toward a large hangar, the door was shut.

"This ship better be incredible…" muttered Seppuku.

Chiya argued, "Will you stop complaining? It can hold three vehicles, that's already pretty good sounding."

"Well, we only have three days to move this ship somewhere else, otherwise we'll be charged, then we'll have to file for bankruptcy…" The man cracked his knuckles, "…and then we'll die…"

Chiya snorted at him with a sarcastic smile, "Yeah, okay, Seppuku…"

"I wonder if it's big," Earl contemplated aloud.

"Of course it's big, it can hold three vehicles." Chiya then cupped a hand over her nervous face, "That or it's really cramped. God, don't let it be the latter…"

"And as a result of the cramped rooms, we'll suffocate from lack of oxygen…" Seppuku added.

Chiya began to laugh, "Oh my goodness, Seppuku, calm do—own…"

The three moments later approached the door, there was a small monitor on it requesting a key. Chiya held up the key she had been given; it was inserted into the monitor. Upon putting it in, the screen displayed an icon that indicates an unlocked door, the following image showed a broken key icon. Taking the key out revealed that it was flashing red, but soon faded to gray. The key, powered by circuitry, died after being used.

"So, wait…" Chiya scratched her head in puzzlement. "Is this even the key to the ship?"

"We'll see," said Seppuku.

The massive door slid open, including a hatch above the hangar so that the ship could take off in an upward fashion. The hangar appeared pitch dark, but gradually lit up as the doors opened wider. The three remained still as the image of a large white and blue ship became visible, Chiya puckered her lips in excitement, now able to see that it was indeed larger than she had thought.

"Wo—ow!" Chiya gasped at the now-revealed white and blue F-Zero luxury ship.

Earl raised his eyebrows and whistled, impressed with the ship as well. The ship had a large body in the back and a smaller bridge way in the front, this is where the pilots would go. The ship was mostly white, with specific parts of the ship painted the same coat of blue as the Blue Falcon.

Chiya held out a trembling finger, "That's a lot larger than I thought it'd be!"

Earl nodded in agreement. Seppuku appeared just as impressed, but was still trying to make her feel bad about her decision, "Yep, it's a re—eal piece of sh-"

"Congratulations, Chiya," Earl interrupted.

"Thanks! This must be as cool as Captain Falcon's ship!"

Earl made a soft chuckle, "I wouldn't go that far. The Falcon Flyer is a pretty spectacular ship—rumor has it that it can even transform into a military attack fighter."

"I disagree," Seppuku spoke with discontent. "Anything Captain Falcon owns is pure trash—including his own life."

Chiya stepped forth into the hangar, the loading ramp to the ship was already deployed for her. With hesitation, she walked up the ramp alongside Earl, Seppuku came in from behind the two. Upon taking a step inside the ship, they were greeted by an automatic light, the interior was just as white as the exterior. As for the contents of the interior, Chiya and Earl were left gasping in absolute surprise.

Earl almost backed right into Chiya in disbelief, "Oh my…" he gasped.

The ship was clean, a living room mixed in with a kitchen, a bathroom down a very small hallway, a bedroom across from the bathroom, and the bridge across the small hallway. Behind the kitchen was one more bedroom and a large room with loading ramps, already opened large enough to fit multiple vehicles inside.

"This is incredible!" Chiya shouted.

Earl rubbed his head forehead in awe, "It is literally better than the base we have!"

Seppuku grunted at Earl's remark, but what he said was for the most part true. The ship was well enough to live in. The first thing Chiya did was look inside one of the bedrooms, as she assumed they were going to use this whenever they were off-planet.

"What? My God, this is incredible!" Chiya spat out.

The bedroom had two beds, a very basic television, and a closet. The beds were above average in quality. Earl and Seppuku stepped inside the room as well, both were mutually impressed. Even so, Seppuku was still trying to appear displeased with the results.

"It's okay," he claimed.

Earl and Seppuku were soon inspecting the bridge of the ship, Chiya was in the kitchen under the presumption that the refrigerator was pre-filled with some goods. She opened the fridge, but was utterly shocked by what she found—just like every other fridge she seemed to open, there was beer.

"Bee-" she stopped herself by covering her mouth. She knew better than to get Earl and Seppuku started over alcohol.

The woman scooped up all of the alcohol and carried the bottles to the loading ramp; she tossed each one onto the ground. Why would you keep beer on a ship? Drink before or while flying and you're bound to fly into something…

Soon after disposing of the alcoholic beverages, Seppuku returned to the living room with Earl.

"Alright, huddle up!" he ordered. Chiya pranced over to the two, Seppuku exhaled as he was about to speak, "Alright, so… Maybe I was a little harsh for once, this ship is actually pretty fitting for our organization—not too big, not too small."

Chiya put her hands together with joy, "So you admit that I-"

"There are two bedrooms, but plenty of beds, so we need to establish some ground rules…"

Chiya and Earl exchanged glances, Earl then argued, "A few minutes in and you're already annexing her ship…"

"Either you and Earl sleep in the same room, or he and I do."

Chiya and Earl both grunted at the options, "Well, that's an easy one. Earl sleeps in your room."

Earl glared at her, "Well!"

"Well, I'm a girl; you two are boys, therefore, it's only fair that we keep genders together."

Earl nodded in agreement, "She has a point,"

"Oh, whatever! That's the worst excuse that-"

"It's my ship, Seppuku." Chiya crossed her arms with lowered eyelids, "Take it or leave it."

Seppuku accepted with little resistance, he was okay with this arrangement, but had expected that Chiya and Earl would want to stay close together on the grounds they are good friends.

"Then the last problem we have, is where we're going to keep this ship." Chiya enlisted concern in Seppuku's words; this was, after all, the main predicament that came with choosing the ship over money. "Obviously, we need somewhere to put it—for free."

Chiya and Earl both began to think of somewhere to put it, they would have to somehow conceal it so the Federation wouldn't find it and charge them for illegal parking.

"That's a real tough one…" muttered Chiya.

"Red Canyon," Earl proposed. "We can hide it in one of the canyon gorges, it's only a few miles away from Mute City, so there shouldn't be much of a problem going back and forth."

Seppuku held his chin while humming, "I guess it's an idea; but I was hoping more so for a location in Mute City."

"Well, there's nowhere to hide it in a metropolis like this."

"Indeed."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "Red Canyon sounds good."

The idea was pitched fast, but already, Seppuku greenlit the idea. "Alright, then. I'll scout out a location in Red Canyon to put it in the coming days, after which, we'll take a vacation or something through space."

Chiya puckered her lips in excitement, "Sounds fun! Will we go to a new planet?"

Seppuku tapped his fingers on his chin, he had never owned a personal ship before and was not used to the freedom of traveling through space. He shrugged with a grin, "Why the Hell not…"

"Green Plant!"

"Sand Ocean," Earl proposed.

A heavy glare landed on Earl at the recommendation of Sand Ocean, he then began to chuckle at her, "Relax, I'm only kidding…"

Chiya was born and raised on Mysteria, which was a fairly moist and cool planet with nothing but fog; because of this, she had a very hard time handling hot temperatures. When the three went to Sand Ocean the previous year for the third race of the annual Grand Prix, she almost drove the two insane with her constant complaining.

"I'll think where we can go after I find where to land. For now, stay vigilant; we still have to worry about Blaskovitz's return…"

Chiya got a serious expression and nodded, "Yes sir."

In a darker part of Mute City, Brock Blaskovitz sat in a chair looking at a monitor—Black Shadow was speaking with Brock.

"So, you know of her whereabouts?" the emperor asked.

"Not quite, but I did encounter both Flower and Seppuku; I will have Flower back in your ship by the end of December—guaranteed."

Black Shadow smirked, "Very good, bring her back alive. After she spills all needed information, you may dispose of her." Brock responded with a nod, but no emotion. "Remember, Blaskovitz; if Seppuku gets in your way—call Blood Falcon. Only he can deal with him."

"And if he kills Seppuku?"

"He won't. Break every bone present in his veins? Perhaps."

The Emperor of Brutality repositioned himself in his chair with a growing grin of insanity. Brock raised an eyebrow, then nodded once more.

"He will come to save the girl if he has truly become a hero," he explained. "His apparent care for the girl will be his ultimate undoing…" Black Shadow brought his fingers together and snickered, "One way or another, Seppuku will kill Captain Falcon for me…"

To be continued…