==Lap 8=

Three muscular men were in the grass around Fiona's garden, each were planting cherry trees in different spots. The men appeared fairly happy at what they were doing, neither of them appeared like the sort of men who would find themselves planting for a widow; rather, they appeared like mass murdering criminals—and that would be correct. These men were affiliated with the Bloody Chain, a former Mute City gang that had fallen at the hands of the Red Star gang, Chiya, Earl, Seppuku, and the Japanese military. Today these men lived on Mysteria, where they had begun new lives as redeemed beings. No longer do these men commit various crimes; they now fabricate parts for vehicles and F-Zero machines. Standing amongst the men was a very large dark skinned man wearing shades and a white muscle shirt. This was Michael Chain—former gang leader, current owner of the Bloody Chain Machine Parts Industry.

Fiona was standing outside with a pair of sunglasses; the sunshine was much brighter and was even making it through the immense fog. For an Earthling, this was normal sunlight to see during a foggy day, but this was uncommon for a Mysterian, thus they were less tolerant of the light.

Earl walked out of the house and stretched, having gotten a great night of rest. Chiya and Earl were always forced to share the same small bed that Chiya grew up in, but he still had an easy time sleeping none-the-less.

Fiona turned towards Earl and waved as he approached her, he had a very determined look on his face. He stopped in front of her and crossed his arms.

"I'm ready for work, ma'am."

Fiona smiled, "Great, let's see if you can figure this out…"

Earl followed her around the house; he passed by Chain and grunted softly. The two exchanged glances as they walked, but to his surprise, Chain swiftly waved to him. This was Earl's first time meeting Chain face-to-face and it was on good terms. Watching him and his ex-gangsters plant for a woman was beyond his comprehension, this wasn't the same Michael Chain that Seppuku always talked about; this was a more kindhearted man.

Fiona scratched her eyebrow as they approached her vehicle and the Purring Kitten. Earl raised his eyebrows in surprise that he was likely going to be asked to do vehicular work, something he excelled at.

Fiona rubbed her hand across the hood of her vehicle, "Five months ago, my vehicle started to make a grinding noise every time I accelerate; eventually the grinding stopped after I heard a snap, but now I can't drive anywhere over fifty."

Earl quirked his mouth and rubbed his chin, "I see…"

"I have no idea what could be wrong, I don't see anything that's out of place, but I know something broke…"

Earl opened the hood of the vehicle and hummed, it only took him mere seconds to notice something out of place. He lifted the oil cap and stuck his finger inside; Fiona raised an eyebrow at him. Earl rubbed his finger along the inside, but was only finding the texture of dry and rough textured metal. He took his finger out and found nothing.

"When was the last time you had an oil change?"

Fiona shrugged, "Probably four to five years…"

Earl widened his eyes and softly chuckled, "Yeah, well, I think there's more of an issue at hand other than the speed."

"Are you saying that lack of oil did this?"

"The lack of oil is probably what broke the accelerator. I best recommend not driving this until I fix it, for safety measures."

Fiona smiled, "So you know how to fix this?"

Earl whistled, "Probably."

She dipped her head down and lowered her eyelids, "Blimey, but I can't afford an oil change right now…"

Earl closed his eyes and quirked his mouth, he exhaled and nodded, "It's okay Mrs. Flower, I guess I can take a little bit out of Project Neptune…"

Fiona bit her lip tightly and lowered her eyebrows, "Oh, but I know that you don't want to do that…"

"It's fine…"

Fiona closed her eyes sadly and rubbed her arm, "I- I can pay you back eventually, dear, I won't forget my debt-"

Earl smirked and closed the hood, he leaned against the vehicle and chuckled, "Your daughter's kisses are enough to compensate for it."

Fiona nodded and turned her head towards Chain, "Michael, sweetie, will you come over here for a moment?"

Chain nodded and proceeded to march towards the two, Earl widened his eyes in absolute fear. While he knew that Seppuku could likely beat Chain in a fight without a struggle, he still felt slightly more intimidated by muscular man. Chain crossed his arms after reaching the two and nodded.

"Michael, could I bother you for a drum of oil."

Earl widened his eyes at this, as he was expecting to purchase something much smaller than a drum; however, he was willing to do so none-the-less.

Chain nodded, "Sure, I can have one of my boys drop it by," he rubbed his head and quirked his mouth, "A drum though, I'll probably need to charge you this time…"

Fiona nodded, "Yes, of course."

Chain turned away from the two and held a cellular device up, issuing a Bloody Chain delivery of oil to the house. Fiona exhaled and patted Earl's back.

"Thank you; you're a real saint, dear…"

Earl smirked and shrugged, "To some extent, yeah…"

Much later in the day, Earl had given her vehicle a proper oil change and was now working on reconditioning all other parts of the vehicle. He found countless issues with her vehicle and was beyond surprised that it worked at all; especially with so many years of little-to-no oil. His general assumption was that her vehicle only survived off of battery power—which he had now restored to the vehicle.

Fiona was watching from the kitchen window as Earl and the Bloody Chain were quick at work. She was staring at Earl most of all, impressed at the amount of rags and tools he had on the ground. She could easily see why he was such a desired F-Zero mechanic; Earl hadn't taken a single break from his work since he started. Fiona was becoming fearful however of his condition, feeling that everyone needs a break, regardless of how skilled they may be.

Earl gently dropped a wrench onto the ground and picked up a metallic scraping tool. He began to scrape the rust off of the pipes and vehicle parts. About three minutes into doing this, Fiona approached him after hours of work holding a glass of naturally made grape juice.

"Earl, sweetie…"

Earl bobbed his head up and turned around; he raised his eyebrows in shock at the glass she was offering him. He closed his eyes and chuckled.

"I'm still a recovering alcoholic; I shouldn't have alcohol of any kind."

Fiona pushed the glass closer to him, "It's just fruit juice, dear."

Earl hummed and grabbed the glass, "Well, I appreciate it."

"I appreciate you for doing all of this."

Earl smirked and nodded, "This is kind of adventurous for me; these Mysterian vehicles are so ancient looking compared to the ones we have on Earth," he looked inside of the hood, "It's kind of like I'm restoring some ancient artifact."

"You're a very hard worker, Earl, and I appreciate that."

Earl shrugged with a shy smile, "Yeah, before I met Chiya, I was pretty much dedicated to maintaining Seppuku's machine. That was about all life offered me at the time…"

Fiona brought her hands together and smiled, "That's sweet. Where is my daughter anyways?"

Earl turned towards the vehicle again and shrugged, "Still sleeping, I presume."

Fiona's smile was instantly struck off her face upon hearing this, "But, it's the afternoon…"

Earl stretched and nodded, "Yeah, that's Chiya for you. Like she always says, beauty as glamorous as hers takes a lot of work."

Fiona glared at the back of his head and grunted, her eyes quivering in absolute fury as she quickly spun around towards the door. Earl looked back at her, but found that she was marching away quickly.

Just as Fiona had imagined, the sight of her daughter was even more provoking than what she had imagined seeing. There Chiya snored loudly on her bed. Her legs were spread out, one of her legs was off the bed with a missing sock, she had a bag of chips between her breasts, a blanket covering her back, and her sock was covering her eyes.

Fiona glared at Chiya and marched towards her loudly as she snored. She stood beside Chiya while clenching her fists angrily at the laziest sight she had ever seen. Fiona grabbed the sock of her face, revealing her closed eyes. She patted Chiya's cheek a few times fairly roughly.

"Chiya!" she lectured.

Chiya began to ramble softly to herself as she instantly got an irritated look on her face. She placed her hand on her forehead and turned her head away.

"…put the sock back on my eyes…"

Fiona gasped in fury, "Absolutely not!"

Chiya growled in irritation and forced her face into her pillow, desperate to acquire darkness. Fiona continued to growl as Chiya instantly fell back asleep; this was enough to infuriate her. She grabbed both of Chiya's shoulders and forced her up. Chiya began to whine loudly.

"What the heck! I was sleeping!"

"-and you succeeded! Now get up and put your sock where it should be!"

Chiya slightly opened her eyes and groaned, "Why?"

"Socks belong on your feet, not your face; you look like a bloody bum sleeping with your dirty laundry over your face!"

Chiya closed her eyes again and put her head down on her pillow, "You do it, please."

"Wha- what!?"

"Put the sock on for me and let me get back to bed, I still need about an hour of sleep…"

Fiona began to glow red in fury, having never become this angry since Chiya was an infant. She curled the sock into a ball and narrowed her eyes at Chiya. Chiya closed her eyes and returned to her rest; but suddenly, Fiona shoved the sock into her mouth. Chiya instantly shot her eyes open and began to panic. She sat up quickly and blew the sock out of her mouth.

"Mom!"

"Chiya Lionne Flower, you put that bloody sock back on this instant and get out of bed!"

Chiya rolled her eyes with an intense glare and groaned, "Oh my God! Okay, just calm down already!" Chiya pulled the sock up her foot and got out of bed as asked, "Happy?"

"No, that's not even why I'm angry."

Chiya gasped and flailed her hands in the air, "Blimey! Why are you so pissed then?"

Fiona walked over to the window and pointed at Earl, "Your soon-to-be husband has been working very hard today, he hasn't taken one break, and he's doing this for nothing in return," she narrowed her eyes at Chiya, "He even went his way to spend money out of his own pocket to help me with my vehicle…"

Chiya nodded, "Yeah, Earl likes to work, so what?"

Fiona tapped her foot down impatiently, "You're going to go outside and do yard work for me, dear."

Chiya gasped and glared, "What, why!? I don't want to!"

"Why?"

"I just want to stay inside and watch TV or something, maybe draw, bathe, I don't know…"

Fiona got a smug look on her face and shook negatively, "Wow, that's terrible of you…"

"I'm not your teenage daughter anymore; I can do whatever I want now."

"Like sleep in your ship alone, while I let Earl stay here."

Chiya gasped, "Y- you wouldn't kick me out, not after what you did to me all those years ago!"

"What I did to you!? Yeah, what did I do to you, dear..?"

"You snuck me in an embassy ship and abandoned me, sent me to Earth with hardly any money."

"I didn't abandon you and you know it, I did what had to be done, to give you a better life! Do you not have a better life now?" Chiay lowered her eyelids, feeling cornered by this question, "What did you even do with the money I gave you?"

"You didn't give me enough, so I became a bum right away…"

Fiona chuckled sarcastically, "Oh, I'm sure. What did you spend all that money on?"

She twirled her hair around a few times, "I tried getting into university, but I was denied…" she puckered her lips and shrugged, "Then I spent all the money on what I thought would be a life supply of food—until I learned that bagged food can expire…"

"…Chiya…"

"I did use the rest of my money to buy that engine though, and wouldn't you know it, I almost won a Grand Prix with it last year…"

Fiona put her hands on Chiya's shoulders and lowered her eyebrows, "Chiya, I'm not being mean-"

"Yes you are!"

Fiona closed her eyes with a twitching eyebrow, "I'm trying to help you. The life of a lazy carefree person will always fail. Capitalist, Socialists, Communist, Imperial; it doesn't matter what kind of government you live in, the lazy will always lead a poor life."

Chiya sighed, "But Mom, Earl loves to work! It's not like I don't work…"

"Explain."

Chiya closed her eyes with pride and brushed her golden hair, "No offense, but I think I've done a much better job staying beautiful than you did when you were a young adult…"

Fiona nodded in agreement, "Sure, but how is this work?"

Chiya smiled, "Well, to get this kind of beauty, I need to sleep for almost thirteen-hours. That's almost half a day down the drain!"

"…that isn't work…"

"I disagree, it's hard staying asleep," she lowered her eyelids, "…especially when you have a mom who'll shove a sock down your throat…"

Ten minutes later, Chiya was standing out in the grass with a farming tool in her hand. She had a very annoyed look as Fiona was explaining to her what she would be tasked with doing.

"- once you rake up a field, Michael and his friends can plant flower seeds there and make a beautiful garden!" Fiona explained happily.

"Mhm—m…"

"It's a very simple task, but I'd be grateful if you could do this for me," Chiya returned a look of disinterest, "I'm sure Earl will think of you as a real super girlfriend for helping your mother."

Chiya nodded and sighed as Fiona momentarily walked away from her. She held the tool with both hands and looked down at the grass with lowered eyebrows. Why put me to work on something I'm not even good at..? she complained in her mind.

Chiya struck the ground with the tool and began to rake the grass away; this was exposing the soil beneath it. She proceeded to rake the grass back and forth, quickly realizing that this wouldn't be a difficult task, rather, it would be a boring task. She groaned loudly and continued to rake. Thanks a lot, Mom; now I'm one hour closer to looking hideous… she looked over at Earl, who was ecstatically working around Fiona's vehicle. Probably will make our first child a bit ugly, since I didn't get that one hour of valuable sleep…

Chiya bit her lip and stopped raking, she scanned the area and sighed.

"I almost wish Seppuku would find us, just to get me out of raking…"

A few hours later, Earl walked out of the bathroom completely showered off. He had been working for a good several hours and was now prepared to take his first break. He considered Fiona's vehicle completely restored and now desired to do indoor housework next, as this would likely make him sweat less. Before Earl entered Chiya's room, he spotted her still standing outside through the window. He grinned and took a turn towards the door; he was so busy working that he'd forgotten to greet Chiya, and it was already getting close to the evening.

He opened the door and walked towards Chiya, who was the only one left outside. The Bloody Chain had returned to their base some time ago. Chiya wasn't holding the tool anymore; rather she was biting a sharp piece of her fingernail off aimlessly. She had about forty percent of the work done after hours of work, but was clearly far behind the schedule Fiona had hoped for. In total, the estimated time it should have taken for anyone to finish this task was about one hour.

Earl smiled as he approached Chiya, preparing to converse with her for the first time today. Just before Earl could greet Chiya, Fiona had run up behind him and grabbed his shoulders. The two stopped behind Chiya as she continued to bite on her finger. Earl turned his head towards Fiona and blinked a few times.

"Earl, I need to speak with Chiya in private, I baked a raspberry pie in the kitchen, you can have a slice for helping me…" she whispered.

Chiya quickly turned her head towards the two upon hearing whispering, Earl nodded while staring at Chiya and turned around towards the door. Chiya initially felt a bit offended, instantly assuming that she was being talked about behind her back negatively. Earl shut the door behind him and Fiona walked up beside Chiya and sighed.

"Well, I gave you a simple task, and you-"

"I don't like to work! I don't even need to, what's the point of doing this!?"

Fiona lowered her eyebrows, "To help me make the perfect garden, and to help you become a better wife."

"I don't need to work! I'm an F-Zero racer and will win the Grand Prix!"

"Chiya…"

"Why are you harassing me with this trash? I just want to lead my own life, okay?"

Fiona nodded, "Chiya, I'll be honest with you. It's not really about the garden at all, I just want you to make Earl happy."

"He is happy! He loves to work, I don't, there's a difference!"

"You know that's not true. No one actually likes to work, they do it for the pride, the honor, and in most cases; the money."

"Well I'm not feeling any of that right now. All I did was sleep half of the day, and spend another quarter of the day ripping out grass."

"Chiya…" she raised an eyebrow at Fiona with a hostile glare, "Earl is going to divorce you if this is how you wish to live your life."

Chiya gasped and shook negatively, "No, he won't!"

"Yes, he will."

"We're in love! He loves me for who I am, he even says so!"

"Chiya…"

"You don't know us! We make each other happy!"

Chiya crossed her arms with a red face and forced herself down onto the ground while pouting. Fiona sighed and knelt down beside her; she patted her back and nodded.

"Your relationship with Earl is much like the one me and Robert had, dear." Chiya lowered her eyebrows and glanced away from her, "Me and Robert started off so happy together, laughing together, doing stuff with each other; neither of us knew that we would one day have a bad marriage…"

Chiya shook negatively, "N- no, Earl isn't like Dad, he'll stay-"

"Eventually, I had you and Abigail; two babies. We certainly didn't want a third child, so we stopped having sex…"

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, "M- Mom!" she panicked in embarrassment.

"Once our sex life was over, and we had two kids that we had to take care of; we lost that special spark we had with each other so many years ago…" she closed her eyes and sighed, "Now, imagine if I were the kind of wife to begin with that refused to clean the dishes, make food, pay the bills…"

Chiya lowered her eyelids and let out a saddened sigh, "…you two probably would have broken up and never had me and Abby…"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you…"

Chiya dipped her head down sadly, "I make food for Earl…"

"Who cleans Mauser's litter box?"

"Earl…"

"Cleans the bathtub?"

Chiya sighed, "Earl…"

"Dishes?"

Chiya grunted and rubbed the back of her head, "Well, to be fair, I don't even know how to wash dishes…"

Fiona put her hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Don't you think Earl would like you even more if you would just take up some of these responsibilities?"

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed sadly, "…but, the litter box is smelly…"

"Then you shouldn't have a pet."

"No way, I love Mauser!"

Fiona nodded at Chiya and continued to pat her back, Chiya dipped her head down and sighed. Fiona looked up at the dark sky and lowered her eyebrows. She slowly looked back down at Chiya and nodded very slowly.

"You're waiting for Earl to propose to you, aren't you..?"

Chiya widened her eyes in response and slightly gasped, she dipped her head down and hesitantly nodded. Fiona smirked and finally sat down beside her.

"Take up the extra work, cut down your sleeping time, and continue being a fun person to Earl; and I promise you, he'll propose soon…"

Chiya had watery eyes and lowered her eyebrows, "I- it's not just marriage though…"

Fiona raised an eyebrow at her, a few tears began to go down Chiya's face as she softly began to cry.

"I want to have a baby with him, Mom..!"

Fiona shot her eyes open and whistled, "Oh boy…"

"I- I have these feelings, bad feelings, really, really bad feelings…" she swallowed and wiped her tears away, "I- I'm not perverted, I know I'm not, but for some reason…" she quirked her mouth and hid her face into her chest, "I just find myself wishing, every night, that Earl would surprise me by entering my room and-"

Fiona grabbed her mouth and closed her eyes with a smile, "Oh, Chiya, you're not a pervert…" Chiya looked up at her with sad eyes, "It's just Earl you have these feelings for?"

She instantly nodded, "I don't even know what it's going to feel like, I just really want to have a baby with him suddenly…" she grabbed her chest and gritted her teeth tightly, "It feels like something inside of me has filled up to this moment, and every moment that goes by it fills up more and becomes stronger…"

"That's hormones, dear."

Chiya groaned, "I'm not sure if I like hormones…"

"If you can, try and explain to me; is it actually a child you want, or sex?"

Chiya lowered her eyelids and blushed, "…both…" Fiona grunted as Chiya latched onto her arm, "I know I can do it! I know pregnancy is going to hurt, especially with my size…" she swallowed in and opened her eyes again, "But I don't care, I'm not going to let that scare me. I'm almost twenty-five and I want to become a mom."

Fiona smiled and tilted her head over Chiya's shoulder, "That's beautiful, darling…"

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, "But alas, I don't think Earl wants a baby, let alone sex…"

"I'm afraid that you speak the truth, dear…" Chiya gasped sadly at this, "Earl is too honorable of a person to simply force sex onto you, and without sex, there will be no baby."

"No!" Chiya panicked loudly.

"I'm afraid there's work required to get this far…"

Chiya nodded, "I understand…"

She rubbed Chiya's cheek and smiled, "I'm going to help you, somehow…"

Chiya gasped and quickly turned red, "D- don't tell Earl about this! He can't know!"

"Relax, this is a family matter; Earl isn't officially part of our family; not yet…"

"How are you going to help?"

Fiona smirked and rolled her eyes, "Your mother knows best, Chiya, just as you will always know more than your child."

Chiya puckered her lips and rubbed the back of her head, "I dunno' about that, Mom. I bet if I put you behind the wheel of an F-Zero machine you'd-"

"I mean, as far as life lessons go, dear," Fiona crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "I'll do my best to get inside Earl's head, convince him that having a child is great, and that marriage is a beautiful thing," she pointed at Chiya with a firm finger, "Your job, is to become a more desirable woman for him."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "…have you fooled around with a man named Bart Lemming before..?"

"Clean the litter box, dishes, bathtub, and make his bed for him every day. That's your part in this. Do this and I can help you."

Chiya sighed very loudly at the sound of all the tasks, "Can't I just do one of those things..?"

Fiona rubbed her chin and hummed, "How were you at driving an F-Zero machine in the beginning?"

Chiya shrugged, "Pretty good, I guess, I only crashed a few times…"

"-and how are you now?"

"Amazing! Almost won a Grand Prix, plan on winning it this year!"

Fiona smirked and nodded, "The more you do these simple chores, the better and faster you'll get at it."

Chiya exhaled loudly and stood up, "Alright, fine, I'll do it; for Earl…" Fiona beamed at her and nodded, "Can I just finish doing this cropping tomorrow?"

"Of course, dear…"

The two stood up and came walking towards the door. Fiona chuckled softly and wrapped her arm around Chiya.

"Now, let's show Earl how two Flowers prepare a dish!"

Earl was sitting with a look of astonishment as Chiya placed several dishes of prepared food in front of him. He looked up at Chiya and Fiona, who had been working together to make dinner. He couldn't help but feel like royalty; Fiona was constantly rewarding him for chores, and Chiya was always comforting him as his lover. He practically had two blondes rubbing his feet.

Chiya gently placed a glass of milk down next to Earl with a gentle smile; Earl smiled back at her and nodded.

"Thank you."

Chiya sat down next to him and put her hands down on the table. Fiona sat adjacently from the two and put her hands together. Earl smirked as he looked back and forth at the two. The three began to eat moments later. As they all ate, Earl turned his head towards Chiya and grinned.

"How's your day been going Chiya?"

She lowered her eyebrows but smiled, "Pretty good, pretty good…"

"Chiya decided to come out and help me by raking the grass; that way, Michael and his friends can plant beautiful flowers there."

Earl hummed and nodded, "Yeah, I saw you doing something in the yard today," he slightly bowed to Chiya, "Very honorable of you, Chiya."

Chiya instantly felt a surge of energy go through her body upon hearing this. Part of her finally felt the joy of helping others; however, she couldn't feel completely satisfied considering this was a lie; she had done only about half of what she was supposed to do. Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly with a quivering smile.

"Yeah, I think I'll get back to it early in the morning…"

Fiona smiled at her, Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "Early in the morning?" he closed his eyes and chuckled, "That'd be awesome if you could wake up a bit earlier, I miss you during the day."

Again, Chiya felt a burst of joy go through her body. Any sign of happiness from Earl seemed to have a strong effect on her, thus inspiring her to try harder.

"F- for sure! Maybe I can help you on Mom's vehicle…"

Fiona nodded approvingly at Chiya, seeing an immediate change in her attitude. Earl beamed at this and flailed his hands in the air.

"Well, I don't need your help on that. Pretty sure I restored it completely!" he said excitedly. Fiona widened her eyes at Earl's sudden obnoxiously loud attitude, she looked at Chiya, but found that she was stuck smiling at Earl, "I don't think I left a single piece of rust on your car; I think one of these days we should go buy some paint and color this thing."

Fiona chuckled and continued to eat, "A-ah, just like your father, Chiya…"

Chiya smirked and nodded, "Yeah, Dad would always talk about mechanic stuff…"

Earl sat back in his chair more calmly, "Sorry, it was just an exciting experience…"

Dinner was quickly interrupted as a phone began to ring. Fiona bobbed her head up in fright and looked back into the kitchen. The telephone made a massive comeback several years ago, once again returning to most households. Cellular devices remained the superior way to communicate, but telephones became a secondary place for people to make calls. Most often, telephones were used for business calls; but on Mysteria, only the government could make calls and receive calls…

Chiya's eyes widened as Fiona approached the telephone slowly. Earl was quickly frightened at the sight of both women panicking, he didn't understand how Mysterian laws were enforced, so he didn't know that this was indeed the Mysterian government calling.

"W- what could the government want with my mom..?"

Earl raised an eyebrow, "The government?"

Fiona cleared her throat and put the phone on speaker, "Hello, Fiona Flower speaking…"

Chiya was just waiting for the call to reveal that Seppuku was on the planet, or worse, reveal that Seppuku was on the phone. Earl gazed at Fiona with quivering eyes as she brought the telephone over to the table.

"Hello, Mrs. Flower. This is a call from the city of Engelland."

Fiona and Chiya exchanged glances, this was the city Chiya and Abigail enrolled in high school at. Chiya covered her mouth while trembling in fear. This was also the city Black Shadow had bombed, where Chiya's father had been struck by a shell.

"Yes, hello."

"We were informed that Chiya Flower has arrived on the planet for a family visit, is this correct?"

Fiona gasped slightly and looked at her; both Chiya and Earl exchanged nervous glances. She licked her lips and lowered her eyebrows, "Maybe…"

"The Engelland varsity soccer team will be playing against New Edinburgh in regionals tomorrow."

Chiya gasped loudly, "Oh my God…"

Earl stared at her in confusion. Earl knew that Chiya was a striker on the Engelland varsity soccer team; what he didn't know, was that the final game she ever played was a Engelland-New Edinburgh regionals game. Her team was defeated and her soccer career had come to an end. Now the two teams were facing each other again in the exact same scenario.

"We understand that Chiya holds an Engelland soccer record, and that her final game ever played was indeed against New Edinburgh many, many years ago."

"Yes..?" answered Fiona.

"Seeing as to how Chiya is a Mysterian hero because of F-Zero, we feel it would be fitting if the ex-soccer player comes to the game tomorrow as our special guest."

"Yes!" Chiya answered loudly.

Fiona hummed, "I suppose that would be fine…"

"Are you certain that she will come?"

Chiya beamed, "Can I bring my boyfriend?"

"Of course."

Chiya slapped her fist into her palm and chuckled, "I'll be there!"

"Thank you, Ms. Flower."

The person concluded the call with nothing more to say. Chiya now had an overly excited look on her face.

"Oh my gosh, it's like the greatest rematch ever established!"

Earl rubbed his chin, "A soccer game eh'?"

Fiona smiled, "Oh, Chiya, you're going to have a great time at the game."

Chiya sat back in her chair, instantly feeling like a teenager again, "This is going to be so awesome…"

"So we're talking high school soccer?" asked Earl.

"Yep."

Earl nodded and continued to eat, "You're right, this will be interesting; maybe you'll see some of your old classmates."

Chiya grunted and dipped her head down, Fiona glanced away from the two and rubbed her arm. Earl immediately felt that he said something wrong and quickly began to fabricate a way to change the subject.

"-or, maybe not…"

Fiona cleared her throat, "I want you two to shower well before you leave for that game."

Earl nodded, "Definitely, don't want to further humiliate Chiya in front of people with our odors."

Chiya rubbed the back of her head and sighed loudly, Fiona raised an eyebrow at Earl, "Further humiliate?"

"Yeah, the F-Zero TV incident?"

Fiona tilted her head with a confused look, "We only get the military approved F-Zero TV…"

Chiya slammed her fists down on the table, "Don't tell her!"

Fiona lowered her eyebrows and held her hands up, "Wait, wait, wait. Did something bad happen?"

"Earl!"

Earl shook negatively at Fiona, "Sorry, if Chiya doesn't want you to know, I must respect her wish."

Fiona quirked her mouth, but momentarily smirked, "That's fine, I admire you more for that."

About an hour after having dinner and a long discussion on casual matters, Chiya and Earl retired to their room once again. Earl was lying on his belly with his eyes closed, he had a taken back smile on his face as he groaned constantly. Chiya was on her knees behind him, giving him a back massage with the vibrator.

"Man, this is so strange, but I can't lie, it feels so good…"

"It's okay, Earl, this is how back massagers are supposed to make you feel!"

Earl slightly opened his eyes, "…right…"

Earl was truly feeling like a king the past few hours. He had worked most of the afternoon fixing Fiona's car, for what Fiona claimed was an act of good will and nothing else. To Earl, this simply wasn't true. The treatment he was getting from both Chiya and Fiona was incredible, half the time he had forgotten why Chiya and Earl were on Mysteria in the first place. He was given naturally made grape juice, complimented constantly, granted a hot shower, given the best dinner of his life, and lastly; he was getting a back massage-in an obscure way.

Chiya had set down the vibrator and was now rubbing his back with her bare hands. Chiya didn't have the slightest clue as to how a backrub worked, she was merely rubbing her palms on his back constantly, but Earl felt very relaxed none-the-less.

"You're such an amazing person, Chiya…"

A knocking could suddenly be heard at the door before she could respond. Chiya turned her head towards the door, "Come in."

Fiona entered the room holding Earl's leather jacket, both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes as it shined. Chiya continued to rub his back as they stared at the jacket. Fiona stopped in the middle of the room and smiled.

"Aw, what a precious sight…"

Earl smirked and looked away from Fiona, "What can I say, she's a natural man-pleaser."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at Fiona, "What did you do to Earl's jacket?"

Fiona folded the jacket and set it on Chiya's old dresser, "I went ahead and polished your leather jacket, dear."

Earl beamed at her and rose up slightly, "Oh, wow, thanks!"

Fiona closed her eyes with a smile, "It's the least I could do for fixing my vehicle."

Chiya was shocked to see how overjoyed Earl was by this, shock momentarily turned into irritation. She narrowed her eyes and rubbed Earl's head.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to be letting Earl have the shower first so he gets all of the hot water," she slowly looked up at Fiona angrily, "Also, I'm going to bring him breakfast in bed tomorrow."

Fiona shot back a somewhat insulting smirk, "Yeah, that's nice, dear…"

Earl had a happy look on his face, but he suddenly grunted as Chiya tightly wrapped her arms around him. She was now staring hostilely into Fiona's eyes while tightly holding Earl.

Fiona chuckled and turned around, proceeding to walk through the door. She closed the door behind her and left for bed. Chiya continued to tightly hold Earl with an angry look, Earl was now left somewhat disturbed. It was no secret to him what had just happened. Chiya was feeling challenged by her own mother in pampering Earl.

"U-uh, Chiya, you know that you're my favorite person, right?"

Chiya slowly narrowed her eyes again and nodded, "…right…"

Earl breathed in and flipped onto his back, he looked into Chiya's eyes and smirked, "Come on, I've been getting too much attention today; how about I massage you now?"

Mauser had suddenly jumped onto the bed with the two, Earl smiled and began to pet the cat softly. Chiya quirked her mouth and lowered her eyebrows; she truly wanted to take up his offer of the backrub, but now she felt that she needed to compete with her mother. Therefore, Chiya believed that the only way to keep up with Fiona would be to do favors for Earl and get nothing in return-including a back massage.

"No, I'm fine…"

Chiya fell back onto her pillow with a fairly sad look. She wasn't scared that her mother was trying to steal Earl from her, but she was scared that Earl would view her more positively than Chiya, and indeed end up viewing her as an incapable brat. She gritted her teeth as Earl laid down beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and exhaled happily.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and quirked her mouth, "Earl…"

"Hm?"

She dipped her head down and sighed, "Um, have you ever had any regrets?" she slowly looked into his eyes sadly, "-about, us?"

"Us? You mean our relationship?"

"Yes, have you ever felt any regrets? Leaving your hobby of dating women for someone like me?"

"Never," he said strictly, Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, "Never, never, never. I never have, and I don't think I ever will."

"I haven't ever done anything to annoy you to the point where-"

"You're a nice person, you enjoy my company-a lot, and most importantly; you make me happy."

"Why?"

Earl widened his eyes and momentarily lowered his eyebrows, "Um, well…" Chiya instantly had a hurt expression on her face, "You and I just have great chemistry together. Sure, we have our differences, but we sure don't let them change the way we view each other."

He dropped his chin over her shoulder and closed his eyes, "Basically, I will never leave you. The only way you will ever be free of me, is if you leave."

Chiya's eyes began to water as she shook negatively, "I'll never leave you, I promise, I promise…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows and looked down at their feet, Mauser was sniffing Earl's sock.

"I keep forgetting that Mauser is here…"

Chiya launched herself up and cheered gleefully, "Mauser!"

A bar on Green Plant was full of loud customers, many were gambling, drinking, or simply talking. Many of the men were muscular, but none appeared to be hardcore criminals. The bartender was scrubbing a glass clean while whistling a tune aloud. Moments after setting a glass down, two men approached him, both with grins.

"We're trying to settle an argument. Mighty Gazelle-was he black or white before he became a cyborg?"

The bartender puckered his lips and shrugged, "I dunno'."

"Maybe he wasn't even a human, maybe, maybe he was some kind of alien-like Pico!"

The man's friend chuckled and shook negatively, "Of course he was a human, just look at him; he walks and talks like a human, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, but come on, what kind of human gets injured so badly to the point that they need a new body, and lives?"

"Good question…"

The bar had suddenly been silenced as the entrance door had been kicked open. Everyone gasped upon seeing a dead man standing before them. Seppuku walked down the isle towards the bartender with his fedora tilted down. He had his assault rifle on his back and a very blank expression on his face. The three men at the counter were grunting constantly as the F-Zero racer approached them. He sat on a stool and put his arms down against the counter.

"L- Lieutenant Seppuku..?" the bartended muttered in amazement.

Seppuku pointed a finger up, "Just give me some wine; I can't risk getting drunk right now…"

A man put his hand on Seppuku's shoulder and laughed in amazement, "The Federation said that they took you down!"

Seppuku shrugged, "You'll find that I'm that one dog at the vet that won't stay dead after being euthanized."

The bartender slammed a glass of blue wine down in front of him, but was still staring at him in amazement, "How did you survive your execution!?"

Seppuku chuckled faintly and shook negatively, "A magician does not reveal his or her secret…"

The bartended smirked, "Well, regardless of what the Federation says, you're welcomed here, friend."

Seppuku in all actuality was the one who saved Green Plant the following year from Black Shadow. He did this by defeating Deathborn, one of Black Shadow's creations who was leading his robot army on the surface; after doing this, the Federation was easily able to pull the plug on his doomsday weapon. Seppuku was a hero on Green Plant.

"Good, because I need someone to help me."

Several patrons instantly leapt around him, offering their service to the famous racer. Seppuku dipped his head down in irritation as more people were jumping around him as he had planned. He exhaled loudly and took a sip of his wine.

"What I need, is a pilot, someone who can simply drop me off at Fire Field…"

Several of the patrons had suddenly backed off, as not everybody owned a private vessel. Three men remained around him, but only one had a look of interest at his request.

"Is there a reward for me bringing you?"

Seppuku shrugged, "Sure, I guess…"

The bartender raised an eyebrow, "Why Fire Field? There's no upcoming race there."

"I'm searching for a ship, I've already confirmed that it isn't on this planet."

"Who's ship?"

Seppuku shook negatively and took another sip, "Can't say."

The man beamed at him and nodded, "Well, uh, I'm your man! I can even bring your F-Zero machine along, if you still have it…"

"Perfect…"

Seppuku was getting closer and closer to tracking down Chiya and Earl. His next destination was Fire Field, but after he would discover that they were not there, he would be heading for Mysteria next. Ultimately, he would spot their docked ship at the Mysterian starport, and from that point it would only be a matter of time before he found them. The reasoning for going to Fire Field before the more obvious planet is because Mysteria would be a very difficult planet to sneak into.

He was still days away from finding the two, but at this rate, Chiya and Earl either had to hide somewhere else, or pray…

To be continued…