==Lap 10=

"Attention!" shouted Jody.

Tanaka and Dr. Stewart stood straight as Jody's hair blew with the wind. The three were in a field somewhere in Japan, however there were large walls surrounding the area. They were inside a secret Federation military complex. Stewart rubbed his chin as he stared at Jody, Tanaka smiled and dipped his head down.

"Happy Christmas Eve, Jody…"

Jody nodded, "Yeah, yeah…" she held up a large metal case and unlocked it, "Gentlemen, I've brought you here to showcase a possible solution to our Seppuku problem…"

She opened the case and carefully raised a large metallic looking weapon, she smirked at it and nodded. Tanaka and Stewart both gasped at the very futuristic weapon.

"What in God's name is that?" asked Stewart.

Jody twisted a few components of the weapon and quirked her mouth, "Feast your eyes on this piece of highly researched piece of destruction…" Stewart grunted and lowered his eyebrows, "This is officially the most advanced piece of handheld weaponry known to man. Even the weapons the Death Soldiers of Dark Million used last year is inferior to this; and Black Shadow is apparently far beyond our technology era."

Tanaka whistled loudly, "Does it shoot giant bullets, Jody?"

She smirked and shook negatively, "The concept of this weapon has been undergoing research practically since the twentieth century; this advanced firepower is officially the only thing that can likely stop someone like Seppuku in his path."

Stewart gasped and momentarily let out a doubtful chuckle, "You're talking big game…"

Jody smirked, "We've proven that the supernatural, like Seppuku, Blood Falcon, Blaskovitz, Dark Rose, Black Shadow; can all maneuver our ordinary weapons pretty easily."

Tanaka smiled, "Seppuku was a fast sprinter."

"I'm led to believe that Seppuku can run about thirty-five to forty miles per hour, and he can apparently leap from place to place much like a flea," she narrowed her eyes and dipped her head down, "…he's as annoying and hard to get rid of as a flea…" she smirked and shrugged, "This weapon can't be avoided. If we catch Seppuku, Blood Falcon, or any other supernatural freak in our way; they're done for."

"Forgive me, but I somehow doubt that such a weapon exists. Have we actually tested this weapon yet?"

Jody spun around and grasped the weapon with both hands, "That's why we're here."

She held up a remote and pressed a button, Stewart and Tanaka both raised their eyebrows as a garage door began to open. A model dummy connected to a small fast moving hovercraft immediately exited the garage and drove down a straight path at a very fast speed.

Jody grinded her teeth and closed one eye as she took aim with the weapon. The object was going about 50 mph. She momentarily dropped onto one of her knees and stuck her tongue out as she took steady aim. Once she acquired a good target, she fired a very bright red beam. The red beam stretched out very far, as if she had fired some kind of rope. The beam was staying in midair as she fired; but her weapon appeared to quickly be overheating and shaking wildly. The dummy came flying towards the stretched beam and quickly went through it. Jody widened her eyes and grunted as much powder flew out of the dummy, but nothing more. She stopped firing, the beam quickly retracted back into her weapon.

"Wh- what the..?"

She widened her eyes and grunted as the dummy momentarily fell over split in half by the beam. Stewart and Tanaka both widened their eyes; even the wall that the beam had hit was penetrated right through. Jody turned around with a smirk and chuckled.

"As you can see, I have completely destroyed the intended target."

Stewart grasped his chin and nodded, he was overly impressed by this, "Not going to lie, that certainly would do the trick on Seppuku…"

"We're calling these laser strikers. You could kill an overpowered hedgehog with this kind of weaponry."

Stewart sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Okay, this is good and all; but come on…" Jody raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure that you want to do this? You were so upset after you thought you had killed him, maybe this is your second chance God has given you-"

"Maybe if he had simply woken up and apologized to me instead of causing damage to the HQ, then running off to hunt his companions!"

"I'm just saying, this might be a good time to sit down and discuss the future with him. No one has to die, really…"

Jody sat the weapon down by the barrel and shook negatively, "I've told you guys why he has to die already. We can't risk him going to Black Shadow, and we're at bigger risk of that than ever now…"

Tanaka beamed at the two, "Let's just be happy that we're alive!"

"But, Tanaka, he may have killed Chiya and Earl. They didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know, I fear for the two as well. We just have to hope that they got away in time…" said Stewart.

Jody looked up at the clouds and quirked her mouth, "Where could the Lieutenant have possibly gone..?"

"Hey, turtle, land us somewhere in the southern region of the planet…" ordered Seppuku.

Pico turned his head as he piloted his ship, "Why the south?"

"That area isn't nearly as watched. You'll land me in some small city with a starport, leave, and I'll spend the rest of my day traveling to the northern region."

"Then I get paid?"

Seppuku pointed with a solid finger, "You'll get your money, just not yet. I need to find my ex-companions before I can pay you," he folded his arms and quirked his mouth, "Believe me, the reward will be well worth the risk of entering Mysteria…"

"Why don't you want me coming with you? There'll be a lot of soldiers, I imagine…"

Seppuku chuckled, "I don't mean to sound sexist; but ninety percent of these soldiers are women. I'm pretty sure I can overpower most women…"

Pico shrugged, "Fine, fine."

Pico had two fellow bodyguards roaming his ship, both of which were blue, while Pico was green. The ship entered Mysteria's atmosphere and quickly proceeded south. Seppuku chuckled while shaking his head negatively.

"I should've guessed that they would run here…"

"Why are you hunting your companions?"

Seppuku clenched his fists, "…they betrayed me…" he grinded his teeth furiously and began to shake his fists, "Everything was fine before those two got together, then everything fell apart all at once…"

Pico turned towards him again, "Wait, why not just have me land you out in the country?"

"I don't know this planet at all, and I doubt the Red Dove's GPS system has any data on this planet's geography," he looked towards a very small city and grinned, "Besides, I kind of desire that frightened feeling of having guns surround me…"

Pico stared at him very several seconds before shaking negatively, "You're weird…"

"Oh, I'm weird. Well, look at you; you look like some kind of-"

"Landing in thirty seconds, get in your machine and get the Hell out of here."

Seppuku chuckled and turned towards the cargo area of the ship, where the Red Dove was currently stored. Pico hovered over the city starport and slowly began to descend to the surface. Several Mysterian soldiers immediately became shocked at the sight of the unfamiliar ship, many of them began to charge towards the starport.

Seppuku buckled himself into his machine and smirked as Pico dropped the loading ramp. He turned on the engine and quickly drove off the ramp onto the surface, it only took Pico mere seconds to close the ramp and prepare to lift off. Seppuku looked back as the ship quickly departed, he officially had no way off the planet unless he could find the ship Chiya and Earl had taken.

Seppuku drove towards the exit door of the starport and momentarily spotted a holographic map on the wall near the door. He did a powerslide and opened the cockpit. This map could provide him with directions, as this was a map of the entire planet. He stepped onto the ground and approached the map while humming. He forced his finger against the screen and lowered his eyebrows.

"Corktown…"

He dragged his finger far to the north, briefly tapping on the city of Engelland. The city was thousands of miles away, but if he drove an F-Zero machine that goes around 900 km/h, he would arrive at the northern part of the planet within hours. He studied the roads he would be taking to get to this city, ultimately, it seemed that it would be a fairly simple straight forward drive. Much of Mysteria was barren country land, but Seppuku had no intentions of following the posted speed limit either way.

"Hey!"

Seppuku grunted and turned his head, a man in a visor cap quickly ran up to him with an assault rifle. It didn't take a scientist for Seppuku to figure out that this wasn't going to be a happy welcoming party.

"I'm busy…" said Seppuku.

"Sir, you can't be here without authorization!" Seppuku turned towards him with a provoked expression, the officer grunted, "W- wait…"

"I must be going."

"You're Lieutenant Seppuku!"

Seppuku grinned and chuckled, "Want an autograph?"

The officer glared at him and cocked his rifle, "Take you in, more like it!" Seppuku grunted, "After what you pulled on Chiya Flower last year, you must be plainly stupid to come here!"

Seppuku looked down at the barrel of the man's weapon and lowered his eyebrows. Seppuku looked deeply into the officer's eyes and momentarily stretched his hand towards him; he wiggled his fingers very mystically. The officer grunted as Seppuku wiggled his fingers at him.

"You don't want to kill me, you want to let me go…" Seppuku said mystically.

The officer widened his eyes and grunted, "W- what..?"

"You want to let me go, and resume your usual patrol…"

The officer grunted and began to tremble, he was looking deeply into Seppuku's eyes in complete confusion. Seppuku suddenly punched straight into his stomach with incredible strength, the officer grunted loudly and dropped his weapon. He grasped his stomach and fell to the ground groaning in pain by the stun.

Seppuku crushed the assault rifle with his foot and continued towards the Red Dove, "Boring conversation anyways…"

Chiya, Fiona, and Earl were putting a pine tree up in the living room, both Chiya and Earl were now in their usual attire again. Chiya had a very gleeful smile on her face as she held the tree.

" Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful! And since we've no place to go-o. Let it snow, let it snow, let it sno-ow..!" Earl turned towards her with a gleeful smile as she sung happily, "It doesn't show signs of stopping, and I brought some corn for popping. The lights are turned way down low. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" Fiona handed her some decorations, Chiya spun around the tree decorating it with a shiny red wrapping, "When we finally kiss good-night, how I'll hate going out in the storm; but if you really hold me tight, all the way home I'll be warm!" she closed her eyes and proceeded to jiggle her rear around, "The Federation is slowly dying!" Earl widened his eyes, "-and the dead Magicans are good-bye-i-ing..! But as long as the Queen breathes. Let it snow, let it snow, let it- ! "

"Ch- Chiya, where in the world did you learn that song from?"

Fiona gave Earl a confused look, along with Chiya, "It's called Let It Snow, by the Mysterian military musical corps."

Fiona nodded while humming, Earl shook negatively, "U-uh, no."

"What do you mean by that, dear?"

"That song originated from Earth centuries ago…"

"Huh…" muttered Chiya, she beamed and closed her eyes after happily shrugging, "I thought that song sounded a bit out of rhythm…"

Finally, Fiona handed Chiya a crystal blue Mysterian socialist star ornament. She reached for the top of the tree with her tongue stuck out as she struggle to reach it, Earl momentarily wrapped his arms under her rear and lifted her up. Chiya smiled and quickly forced the star down on top; Fiona crossed her hands together and smiled at the two. Chiya was brought down; the two proceeded to hold hands as they gazed at the blue star. Fiona chuckled and closed her eyes.

"You're nearly twenty-five years old, and you're still too short to put the star on top…" said Fiona.

"Well, neither can you."

Fiona slowly approached the wall, there was a fireplace installed in the living room. While most households certainly had no use for a chimney, this house did because of the fireplace. She knelt down and turned a dial slowly, this automatically lit a small fire. Chiya held her waist and leaned against Earl.

"Finally, after so many years, I get to enjoy Christmas again with family."

Earl smirked and pushed the wrapped present he had gotten for Chiya under the Christmas tree, "Yeah, I'm happy for you."

Fiona stood up and turned towards Earl, "How does your family celebrate Christmas, Earl?"

Chiya looked up at Earl with an intrigued look, he shrugged and looked away from the two, "I never really did celebrate Christmas with my family. I regarded the holiday as the birthday of Jesus Christ, but that's about it."

Chiya stroked his arm and puckered her lips, "So you never even got to enjoy the fun of Santa Claus?"

He shook negatively, "No, not really."

Chiya and Fiona exchanged glances briefly; Chiya smiled and swiftly swung her hand in the air, "I still have to finish making part of your Christmas present."

Earl smirked, "Making?"

She dipped her head down in shame and sighed, "I really didn't have the money to get you anything…"

Fiona grunted and widened her eyes, "B- but my daughter and me had discussed an alternative present she could give you!"

Chiya jolted her head up with a surprised look, "Oh yeah!"

Chiya had agreed that part of her present to Earl would be to give him full control over her come Christmas Day. If Earl wanted Chiya to do something, she would have to do it; in other words, she would temporarily be his slave. Chiya had forgotten about this and had already begun work on another present.

She backed away towards the hallway and smiled, "I guess Earl will be getting two presents then, again, just like last year!"

Earl smirked at her, "You'll have to forgive me that I was only able to get you one."

She nodded while walking towards her bedroom, "Perfectly understandable."

Earl frowned and dipped his head down, Fiona turned her head and raised an eyebrow. He walked over to the cushiony chair in the living room and sat in it with a look of great discontent.

"What's wrong, dear?"

Earl held his forehead while shaking negatively, "This is going to be the second Christmas that I let Chiya down…" he closed his eyes and sighed loudly, "I was originally hoping to have gotten the money for Project Neptune before Christmas, but sadly, I missed the originally set deadline of Christmas…"

"You're upset about your present for Chiya?" he nodded and sighed again, "You spent money on her, that and the thought that comes with it should be satisfying enough, right?"

"He's the greatest woman in the universe, she deserves the best Christmas ever," he lowered his eyebrows angrily, "Dammit, why can't I just get my head in the game and please her with an over the top Christmas present like she got me..?"

Fiona smirked, "That was a once in a life time gift she had gotten you, I assure you, she'll never bring you anything that large again."

Earl crossed his arms and nodded, "I hope that she at least enjoys the present I did buy for her. I apologize for criticizing your home planet, but Mysteria hardly has anything interesting for sale."

"The government goes to great lengths to make sure that no person appears wealthier than another. Therefore, we do not produce the fancy contraptions and clothing that your planet likely has."

Earl nodded and proceeded to gaze into the fireplace, watching the tips of the flames change shapes. He quirked his mouth and rubbed his chin softly.

"Where are Chiya's grandparents?"

Fiona widened her eyes and glanced away from him, "She never met them."

"Eh?"

"My mother and father were taken away during the First Great Patriotic War of Glory against Magica," she lowered her eyebrows and shook negatively, "That was before I even met Robert."

"Did they do something wrong?"

Fiona shook negatively, "It's common for the government to seize the elderly, well, was; our new Queen has a more merciful style of leading this planet."

Earl smirked and leaned forward, "I would be interested in learning more about your government system…"

Fiona smiled, "Alright, dear."

Chiya sat still at a desk in her room with a piece of paper taped down; sitting next to the paper was a pencil sharpener and several different graphite pencils. Chiya poked her finger with the sharp tip of a 3B pencil as she stared at the drawing she had been working on. She was drawing a very detailed drawing of Earl, Chiya, and Seppuku. Earl and Chiya were in the front with happy expressions, Seppuku stood in the back of them with the typical strict expression she had come to know him by. She was contemplating whether she would put Mauser in the drawing. After much consideration, she began to draw Mauser in from behind Chiya's right leg.

She had a very concentrated look on her face as she very thoroughly sketched out her favorite cat. She stuck her tongue out and turned her head towards the bed, Mauser was lying down simply relaxing—but not sleeping. She hummed and turned towards the paper again.

She drew an accurate representation of Mauser and began to work on details, she made very slight marks on his body to represent his fur. After a few minutes of drawing Mauser, she moved her pencil up to Earl's hair and began to sharpen his bangs and include the shadows of his forehead. Chiya felt fairly rushed considering they would be opening presents at midnight; but she was already making great progress on the drawing. She quirked her mouth and poked Earl's eyes a few times, trying to add a shiny appearance. What was most interesting about her drawings, was that she seemed to do better drawing Earl than herself. Her drawings of Earl were always great; drawings of her always had disproportionate shapes.

Chiya squinted and tapped the eraser of her pencil on her lip as she stared at the Chiya sketch. She hummed and slowly began to erase her breasts, she swiftly drew much larger breasts—though she clearly didn't have this large of a chest.

"Nice."

She moved back up to Seppuku and did a few sharp strokes on his fedora, trying to make his hat as intimidating looking as possible. While it was true that they were running from Seppuku, she still felt it was necessary to include Seppuku in a family drawing. Regardless of how Seppuku viewed her, Chiya would always be thankful that Seppuku had come into her life.

A few hours later, Fiona was leaning against the counter in the kitchen as a cake was baking in the oven. Earl was sitting at the kitchen table looking at a photo book, it contained hundreds of family photos from Chiya's family; almost every photo was of before the Day of Falling Mist, there were three photos taking place after, which were of Abigail's high school graduation.

"How old was Chiya in this photo?"

Fiona walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulder as she looked down, the photo was of a much younger Chiya standing alongside her father in the garage. She was holding a power tool with both hands and had a gleeful smile.

"I would say she was about ten years old, dear."

Earl lowered his eyebrows sadly at the sight of Chiya so happy, this was nothing new to him, but it broke his heart wondering how someone like Chiya could go on after killing the father she admired so much. Earl turned the page and found a photo of Chiya holding a baby, he knew that this was Abigail, as Chiya looked like a mere toddler.

"Here's Chiya's baby picture," Fiona said flipping a page.

Earl quirked his mouth, Robert was holding a very small naked baby in his arms with a grin on his face.

"That was Chiya?"

"Yes, dear."

Earl chuckled and raised his eyebrows, "She was pretty small, even for a baby!"

She nodded and exhaled, "It sure seemed like it was just yesterday I had Chiya in my belly," she closed her eyes and chuckled softly, "Childbirth was so painful, I honestly didn't think I would ever want a second child…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows sadly, "Where did Abby stand in the family?"

Fiona crossed her arms and shrugged, "Of the two children we had, Abigail was the child I gave more attention to," Earl grunted and turned his head, "Robert was absolutely in love with his daughter, Chiya, and he would often shoot Abigail down on just about anything."

"You mean, you didn't love Chiya as much as Abigail?"

"Don't be silly, dear. I loved both girls, but Chiya was more drawn to her father, and Abigail was fairly neglected. Chiya wanted to be a grease monkey, and Abigail wanted to be a spirited ladylike figure; ultimately, I grew a bit more attached to her."

"But you loved her still, right?"

She nodded quickly, "Of course."

Earl slapped his knee and exhaled loudly; he tilted his head and looked over at the oven.

"Do I smell cake?"

"Yes, Christmas cake."

He folded his arms and closed the photo book, "Like carrot cake?"

"No, just a cake that I plan on decorating Christmas style."

"Ah, that's cool…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she concentrated greatly on the drawing, after hours of work; she now had a very well textured looking drawing. The drawing of Chiya had become much better looking now than before; she realized that she was making great timing, so she had begun working on a background for the drawing.

She was now chewing bubble gum as she worked, she had a great desire for a break, but she didn't want to risk anything happening to the drawing. She was mostly fearful that Mauser may wake up and jump on the table, or that Earl may enter and see what she's drawing early. She continued to push the graphite down on the paper roughly, she momentarily gasped and widened her eyes upon hearing a loud thump in the house.

"Ou-uch!"

She spun herself around with a frightened look, easily startled by Earl's shouting. She dropped the pencil on her desk and leapt up running towards the door.

She charged into the kitchen and found Earl flailing his hand around constantly; Fiona had her mouth covered with a look of fright.

"What happened!?"

Earl quickly ran his hand under the sink and rinsed his finger, which was now glowing red. He turned towards Chiya with a frustrated look.

"I didn't know your oven was so primitive…"

Fiona rubbed her head, "What do you mean? You can't touch the glass window of an oven!"

Earl shook negatively, "Most ovens today are cool everywhere except the inside."

Chiya walked over to Earl and grabbed his wrist, "Let me see…" she widened her eyes and grunted at the sight of the red finger, "O- oh God…"

"I can't imagine Mysterian hospitals treat severe burns…" said Earl.

"We don't have any of your fancy Federation medicine, but our healthcare is free…"

Chiya nodded, "Yeah, we'll just go rub some healthcare on that finger and you'll be better in no time!" she quirked her mouth and turned towards her mother, "Mom, do we by chance have any healthcare in the medical drawers?"

Earl shook his hand negatively at the two, "It's fine, it's fine…"

Fiona grabbed Earl's hand and hummed, "We should put some lotion on that, dear…"

Chiya glared at Fiona and tightly grabbed Earl's other hand, "Yeah, I can put it on for you!"

Earl grunted and forced his hands away from the two, "I'm just going to get some ice…"

Fiona nodded and momentarily returned to the oven. Chiya quirked her mouth and glanced away from Earl, "I can't wait for Christmas…"

Earl smirked, "For the presents?"

Chiya walked up to the window and exhaled happily, "I don't care about the gifts. I love Christmas because it's the one time of the year where we set aside work and struggles to love up one another," she lowered her eyelids with the same smile, "Living alone on the streets all those years for Christmas has left me scarred, so many years of loneliness and sorrow…"

Earl and Fiona were both frowning at her, she remained silent for several seconds before smiling again and turning towards the two, "I have faith that Abby has found her own Earl Bendek to care of her."

Earl grinned at her, "One day, we'll head to Sand Ocean and find her. Then we can celebrate next year truly as a family."

She sighed and turned towards Fiona, "Why'd you send her to Sand Ocean, Mom?"

"I figured that anywhere was better than here…"

Chiya shook negatively, "Sand Ocean is an awful place…"

"Why, is it hot?"

Chiya widened her eyes and nodded heavily, "It's a bloody frying pan!"

Earl nodded in agreement, "She is right, Mrs. Flower, Sand Ocean is probably worse than here."

"Oh dear…"

The kitchen had become silent, Earl rubbed his burnt finger constantly as the two stared at Fiona; he momentarily fake coughed and kicked his foot down a few times. Chiya quirked her mouth and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going, Chiya?"

She turned towards Earl while holding the doorknob, "I'm going to Engelland for a little bit. Don't go in my room, I still need to finish your present."

Earl nodded and leaned against the counter; Chiya closed the door behind her and rushed towards the Purring Kitten.

About an hour later, Chiya found herself standing in a dark lobby. She was looking into a glass display case full of trophies and other awards; she had a fairly amused expression as she stared at a photo. She sighed and lowered her eyelids sadly.

The photo she was observing was of her varsity team, Chiya was kneeling in the center with a soccer ball in front of her. Next to the photo was one of Chiya's old white tennis shoes, it was signed by each member of her team. The shoe now appeared much worn out and clearly hadn't been cleaned for some time. Chiya was inside the Engelland high school; somehow, all of the trophies and awards had been spared from Black Shadow's bombing.

She looked up at a golden plaque and found that a freshly posted photo of the striker who won the soccer match the previous night was now hanging proudly. There were several plaques on the wall, all containing modern school records. Chiya's photo had been removed from the wall after so many years. Chiya didn't object to this, but regardless, she felt somewhat sad that many would never know that Chiya attended Engelland high. She felt that regardless of losing her record, she deserved a spot of honor on the wall on the account that she was now a Mysterian celebrity that everyone loved.

"Mrs. Flower."

Chiya widened her eyes and turned around, there was a female teacher standing at the entrance to the lobby. Chiya didn't recognize this teacher; she was assuming that she was new.

"I- I'm sorry, did you say, Mrs. Flower?"

"Are you not married?"

Chiya lowered her eyelids sadly and sighed, "Unfortunately, not yet…"

"Oh, Ms. Flower, could you come in as a surprise guest to my classroom?" she clapped her hands together and smiled, "The students would love it."

Chiya widened her eyes, "Me? A guest speaker?"

"Yes, yes, you could just speak to the class on how you became so successful."

Chiya blinked a few times, she was for the most part, stunned, "Right now?"

"Right now."

"Okay, right now…"

The teacher had brought her to her classroom and situated herself behind her desk, Chiya was left standing in the middle of her classroom with all of the students staring at her. Oh God, what do they want from me..? she momentarily widened her eyes upon spotting the black haired striker; she was staring at Chiya intensely with a big smile.

"What's it like being an F-Zero racer?" a student asked.

Chiya widened her eyes and bit her lip, "It's a fantasy, but very dangerous…"

The teacher was staring at Chiya with her fingers crossed, "How did you go from a soccer player, to an F-Zero racer, Ms. Flower?"

Chiya looked around the classroom and swallowed, "Well, I guess I just followed my dreams…"

She was very nervous of speaking to the class, but she was finding easy comfort from the eyes of the girl she had helped. This one player that she had inspired to win the regional's game was the only person she recognized, and despite the fact that she didn't know her, she could tell that she was the Chiya Flower of the classroom—shy and quiet.

"I thought I was going to become a national player for our soccer team, but I got in a bit of a legal twist with the government and ended up on Earth…" she dipped her head down and looked at her feet, "I met a nice guy there, made friends, and eventually constructed an F-Zero machine," she closed her eyes and chuckled, "I always thought of myself as a great driver, and as it turns out, this is what helped me become a licensed racer…"

The black haired girl grunted softly and dipped her head down nervously, "D- do you think it's a silly dream to become a national soccer player..?"

Chiya slowly smiled at the girl, understanding that this truly was a much younger version of Chiya, "Of course not, I was a better driver than a player, so I eventually used that," she looked deeply into the girl's eyes, "If one believes they are excellent at soccer, they practice, play, and study it. Eventually, you learn the ropes and very well may be scouted out in college."

Chiya rubbed her arm with a faint smile, "Contrary to popular belief, I am not a pro racer, I am still a novice racer. But the more I race, the more I understand the rules; eventually, I believe I may become a true F-Zero legend…"

The girl appeared very inspired by Chiya; her hint was obvious, Chiya was clearly trying to motivate her to pursue her soccer dreams. The majority of the class didn't care about this; rather they were just interested in her F-Zero career.

Chiya crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, "I thought my life was over as a bum on the street, I had always hoped that I would get out of the slump eventually, but I've done much more than that…" she exhaled happily and crossed her arms, "I now have somewhat of a fiancé, money, a pet, an F-Zero career, and a home…"

She closed her eyes and smile, "I don't doubt that the life of a soccer player could be more fun than an F-Zero racer. But I'm happy with how my life turned out, the way I see it, someone else can assume the dream I had originally been pursuing…"

The obnoxiously loud bell had rung, sending Chiya into a startled stance. Every student in the room had gotten up and charged towards the door, Chiya was left somewhat surprised that no one stopped for an autograph. The reason for doing this, however, was that tardiness came with a severe punishment.

Chiya gasped as the striker quickly came through the crowd of students and hugged her. Chiya smiled and patted her back a few times, but the girl immediately let go and left out the door with her classmates. She was left watching as this student seemed to be isolating herself from the crowd. She quirked her mouth in confusion and lowered her eyebrows.

The teacher momentarily walked up beside her and held onto her waist, "I apologize for bringing you in so late, I wish I could have given you more time to -"

"What's that one girl's story?"

"Oh, which one?"

Chiya pointed towards the lockers, the striker was very quietly grabbing her things without much motion. Most students were conversing with each other, as school was now over, but this girl seemed to be completely centered on her own life.

"That's Tanya, the pride striker of our school," the teacher smiled at Chiya and tilted her head, "I got the feeling you were speaking to her, more than you were the class in general."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly and quirked her mouth, "She seems a bit… to herself."

"Tanya has been the target of harassment often enough, I'm afraid. Faculty does what it can, but, oh, you know how kids can be…"

The young Flower watched as Tanya walked away from her locker with a white backpack, appearing neither happy nor sad.

"But, she's so pretty and nice sounding, why don't people want to be her friend?"

The teacher lowered her eyebrows and exhaled slowly, "Well, Tanya isn't like all the rest…" Chiya squinted at the teacher. "Tanya is not Mysterian, she is Magican."

"Blimey, what now? Magican?" Chiya's eyes shot open, "Are you sure? How is that possible?"

"It's quite the tale, supposedly born from parents captured during the Patriotic War of Glory. Tanya is a Magican fighting her own form of war, as it were."

Chiya thus established a glare, "Bloody hell, they can't harass her for that! She is Magican by blood, Mysterian in ways, right?"

"We can control our students as best we can, but we have no control over what their parents say, and unfortunately, even they do not always have kind words for our Magican student."

"Bastards!"

"If it is of any relief, Tanya does, in most cases, have the respect of her fellow players for being an exceptional teammate. Elsewhere though, she is often insulted as being the class 'Genie in a Bottle'…"

Chiya shook her head, "Unbelievable…"

Many hours later, Chiya found herself putting the final touches on the sketch. The drawing was very anime-like, but somewhat 3D looking at the same time. She felt that the most attractive piece of the work was her drawing of Seppuku. She had done a superb job of making his visor shiny and intimidating. Despite the fear of Seppuku hunting them, even she had to admit that her favorite part of the drawing was Lieutenant Seppuku. Chiya was now on the clock, there was merely twenty minutes before Christmas Day.

She stuck her tongue out as she shaded in Earl's chin; this was the last part to the drawing she needed to complete. She was staring at the shadow of his chin intensely, anxious to see the final product.

Earl and Fiona were waiting in the living room patiently. The Christmas tree was well-decorated, a green and red frosted cake was on the table, and Fiona had classic military approved Christmas music on. He was fairly excited to give Chiya her present, feeling that he could at least give her something this year.

Chiya lifted the paper up with both hands victoriously, "Aha-a!"

She charged out of her room while holding the paper against her chest, she didn't feel that it was necessary to wrap it. She was hiding the drawing against her chest so Earl wouldn't see it.

Earl smiled as Chiya ran into the living room, she placed the drawing under the tree and momentarily flipped onto the ground. She threw off her stock hat and socks, momentarily stretching on the floor.

"Alright!"

She opened her eyes and grunted at the sight of something under the tree; there were a total of three wrapped presents. She flipped onto her belly and blinked at Fiona.

"Mom, did you bring presents too?"

She nodded, "Yes, one for each of you."

Chiya beamed and clapped her hands, "Yay!"

Earl looked up at the clock and quirked his mouth, "Ten minutes until midnight, but I guess no one's gonna' kill us if we start early."

Chiya nodded quickly, "Yes! Let's start early!"

Fiona sliced a piece of cake for herself and nodded, "Very well."

Chiya leapt down and grabbed her two presents; she was chuckling maniacally as she prepared to tear them open obnoxiously.

"Hold on, honey," Chiya turned her head towards Fiona, "Earl's technically the guest, and you always let your guest go first on everything."

She lowered her eyebrows and groaned, "Fine…"

Chiya stacked her drawing on top of Fiona's present and pushed it over towards Earl. Earl grinned and dragged the presents over towards him. Chiya was pleased to see that despite he was given a solid present, he went straight for the paper. Chiya poked her fingers nervously and glanced away.

"I just made that Christmas drawing, of our family…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows with a quivering smile at the drawing, "You even included Seppuku into the drawing…"

"Yep! You two have always been a great family to me, even if you two did cause me to get shot a few times…" she dipped her head down with a smile, "I know that I didn't spend a single Mysterop, but I did put as much heart as I could into it…"

Earl closed his eyes with a smile, "It's great…"

Chiya clapped her hands with watery eyes and nodded, "What did Mom get you?"

Earl opened the boxed present and reached inside, he grunted with twitching eyebrows after initially grasping something cotton. He knew for a fact what Fiona had gotten him. Earl slowly raised up a custom made green and tan sweater.

"Oh, a sweater..!"

"It's a Christmas sweater, dear."

Earl lowered his eyebrows and slowly put it on, "Thank you…"

Chiya swished her head towards the presents and beamed, "My turn!"

Fiona nodded, Chiya quickly grabbed the present Earl had gotten her. She shook it and could tell that it was very light, this somewhat disappointed her, but she already was aware of the fact that Earl was unable to get anything too expensive. Earl shrugged with a nervous smile and glanced away from her.

Chiya opened the present and raised an eyebrow upon finding blue fabric, the fabric appeared very luxurious and was sparkling.

"Whoa…"

She grasped the fabric and lifted it out of the wrapping, she stood up with a confused look; she released two of her fingers which caused the fabric to drop down to her toes. She gasped as she was now looking at a sparkling blue dress.

"Whoa, whoa, I thought you said it wasn't expensive!"

Earl smirked and shrugged, "That was a lie, this was moderately expensive…"

Fiona had a taken back look at what Earl had gotten her, Chiya was beaming at the luxurious dress.

"I picked blue, to mirror the beautiful sapphire eyes you have."

Chiya dipped her head down while blushing, "Oh, Earl…" she momentarily raised an eyebrow at the dress, "Wait a minute, when would I wear this?"

Earl rubbed the back of his head, "Well, u-uh, I was just thinking that you and I would, u—uh…" he swallowed and looked her in the eyes, "Well, I thought we could go dancing together some time…"

Fiona puckered her lips, "Oo-oh!"

Chiya's eyes water greatly, she quickly nodded and wrapped the dress up.

"Definitely!"

Fiona crossed her hands over her heart with a heartwarmed look, "That's such a nice gift, Earl…"

Earl rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "I'm sorry that I couldn't get you a gift, Mrs. Flower…"

Fiona swished her hand at him, "Both of you have done plenty of work for me," she smirked at the two and chuckled, "Not to mention, you managed to persuade Genie to stop pestering me with that debt. I love you two very much, and your mere presence is enough of a gift to me…"

Chiya and Earl were both smiling at her, she silently chuckled and looked down at the cake, "I think I'll finish this slice of cake and head off to bed, I shouldn't be awake this late at night…"

Chiya and Earl nodded and waved farewell.

About thirty minutes later, Earl and Chiya remained in the living room as the fireplace illuminated the entire room. The lights were off for dramatic effect. Chiya turned up the music player with a smile on her face; she turned towards Earl and slapped her barefeet together.

"Alright, turn around…" she said silently.

Earl nodded with a smirk and covered his eyes. Chiya quickly took off her shirt and shorts, getting down into nothing but her undergarments. She looked up at Earl and puckered her lips, curious as to whether Earl could resist the urge to look at her so exposed. Unfortunately for her, Earl seemed fairly solid to the deal and was keeping his hand over his eyes with his back turned.

Chiya grabbed the sapphire dress and slipped it on carefully. Earl had an excited look, he was anxious to see what his girlfriend would look like in such attire. Chiya took about a minute to get the dress on properly, but she momentarily slapped her feet together again.

"I'm ready."

Earl smirked and uncovered his eyes, he spun around and gasped, Chiya had a cute smile on her face as she stood motionless in her new dress. Earl beamed at her and clapped his hands together. The dress fitted Chiya perfectly, all she was missing were a pair of sapphire dress shoes.

"You know what you look like?"

Chiya turned her head with a gentle smile, "A princess?"

"A sapphire."

Chiya dipped her head down and blushed, "Too bad I couldn't be a ruby, your favorite…"

Earl approached her and wrapped his hands around her, rubbing his fingers around her exposed back, "Ruby, sapphire, what's the difference? They're both beautiful stones…"

Chiya wrapped her arms around his waist as the music played a gentle melody. The two began to softly move around the living room together in circles, this was a magical moment for Chiya. She was very light on her toes as the two danced, as she was hardly using her soles to move. Earl continued to rub his hands on her gently as they danced. Momentarily, their eyes met. Earl's eyes quivered as he stared at Chiya's blue eyes, he had only come to the realization now at last, that Chiya didn't have ordinary blue eyes—she had a special blue, one that only a Mysterian could have.

It was within this dance that Earl viewed this relationship somewhat differently. Earl was an Earthling, and Chiya was a Mysterian. From a certain point of view, Chiya was an alien.

The two closed eyes and brought their lips together as they continued to circle around the living room. The very first thing Earl noticed, was that Chiya's breath was minty—she clearly knew that the two would be kissing by the end of the day.

To Earl's surprise, she had retreated from the kiss mere seconds later and put her chin over his shoulder. Earl blinked a few times, but smirked after realizing that she was too taken back by the dance to make out with him.

"This is amazing…" she opened her eyes slightly with watery eyes, "I always wanted to go to prom, and the one time I did, my boyfriend broke my heart…"

Earl patted her back and nodded, "It's alright, you shouldn't have to worry about pleasuring any guy except the one you truly love," he closed his eyes and smirked as Chiya tilted her head over his shoulder, "It's your body, it should be your call when you want a man to mess around with it," he exhaled loudly, "I'm just glad that I have the traits that a woman like you desire…"

Chiya slightly opened her eyes again and glanced over at the fireplace; she lowered her eyelids and glanced away from his neck for a moment. After careful consideration, Chiya accepted that this was likely Earl's invitation. She exhaled nervously, but excitedly, and began to lead them towards the fireplace in circles. Earl combed her hair constantly as the two came up to the fireplace; he widened his eyes and grunted as she momentarily stopped the two.

"Oh, are we-"

She grabbed his hand with an immense blush and dropped down onto her knees, "Let's sit for a moment…"

Earl widened his eyes, but did as she asked and sat down by the fireplace. She was looking into his eyes intensely, prepared to finally fire off at him and ask questions later. She grabbed his shoulders and scooted straight towards him, getting her legs wrapped around him. The two both appeared startled by this, yet they both knew what was going to happen. She got her chest very close to his with her legs wrapped around his rear.

"Um, so-o…"

Earl nervously smiled at her, "So?"

Chiya swallowed while trembling, "I- I had one more present prepared for tonight…"

Earl turned his eyes away from her and smirked, "Uh, yeah..?

She exhaled loudly and looked back up at him, "I don't know what's going to happen, but I decided that for your last gift, I wanted to try some new things..." she rubbed her arm, "Kinda' like how I messed around with you and accidentally gave you a hickey…"

Earl nodded, he knew exactly what Chiya wanted from him, but he was trying to play it cool and let things fall into place. He grasped the condom that he always had in his jacket pocket, as he was prepared for Chiya to do this. He hid the condom in his palm and leaned back slightly.

"So-o, try new kissing techniques or something?"

Chiya blushed and shook negatively, "Um, I was thinking we could do something romantic, but maybe not with our mouths for once…"

Earl nodded and exhaled, "Well, alright then…" he blushed and rubbed her cheek, "Let's, try things then…"

Chiya slowly nodded and exhaled loudly. She leaned in towards Earl and grasped both ends of his jacket, immediately pulling his arms out of the sleeves. Earl was becoming more nervous by the moment, he was especially disturbed that Chiya wanted to do this right on Fiona's floor.

She completely pulled his jacket off and smiled, "Okay, your turn…"

Earl closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Without hesitation or thinking, he dug his hands right into the dress, pressing against her bra. She widened her eyes as the two were going to take turns undressing each other. Just as Earl began to remove the top of her dress, something odd began to happen.

Both gasped and turned towards the fireplace, there was a loud rumbling coming from inside the chimney, and dirt was falling onto the fire; thus putting it out. Earl let go of Chiya and grunted loudly as the chimney continued to rumble. Chiya crossed her fingers and widened her eyes in shock.

"S- Santa Claus!?"

A loud thumping could be heard, it was clear to both of them that something was struggling to get down the chimney. Within a few moments, a loud thump came from the bottom; bringing a massive collection of dust and dirty out of the fireplace. Chiya and Earl backed away as the thick layer of dirt covered the chimney.

"S- Santa!?"

Earl and Chiya scooted away from the chimney, and the next thing that caught their eyes left them stunned.

The dark clothed man came walking towards them after cocking his assault rifle.

"…ho, ho, ho…" Seppuku muttered loudly.

Chiya gasped and scooted back against the sofa with Earl, "S- Seppuku!"

Seppuku approached the two lovers with his assault rifle trained on them, "You two disappoint me as always, I thought you'd at least run to a well isolated place that I'd never find you at," he sighed and shook negatively, "But instead, you just run home to your mama…"

Chiya shook negatively, "S- Seppuku, you don't have to do this!"

"It's my pleasure…"

Earl grabbed Chiya's hand, "Dude! We wanted to help you through that case, but they woulda' thrown our ass in the slammer!"

"That's aside from the point…" he aimed at Chiya in particular, "You betrayed me, Flower. Told me that we were a family, I finally had a family that I almost had a sliver of emotions for; and then you pulled that off…" he grinded his teeth furiously, "You know that I would have broken you two out of prison; you just wanted me dead so you two could elope and go to God damn Vietnam!"

"That's not true!"

Seppuku grinded his teeth, "So many months. I spent so many months in that cell, and about a week in that coffin…" he stomped his foot down, "All the while, you two were off having the time of your lives together!"

Chiya and Earl had no response, Seppuku took aim at Chiya and shook negatively, "Allow me to do what Jody Summer couldn't do…"

Chiya gasped, "Seppuku-"

Earl quickly leapt onto Chiya and covered her up, he turned his head towards Seppuku and lowered his eyebrows.

"Fine! Do as you wish, but please don't kill Chiya; she isn't the one to blame…" he pushed Chiya into his chest as he held her tightly, "Kill me instead, it's my fault, all of it!"

"Earl, no!"

He shut his eyes tightly, "Chiya wasn't in love with me, I was in love with her, it's my fault that we became a couple; and it's my fault that you were imprisoner, since I was the one that warned her of the dangers of you being alive!"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at him, Earl began to slightly cry as he held Chiya, "If you need to kill one of us, just kill me; but no matter what you do, you're not just going to kill Chiya…" he turned his head towards Chiya and pressed his forehead against hers, "…we die together…"

Seppuku continued to take aim at the two, he shook negatively, "How very noble. Very typical of you Bendek…"

He looked down and raised an eyebrow while the two trembled, he spotted a sheet of paper on the floor where he stood. Earl held onto Chiya more tightly, prepared for the worst. Seppuku hummed at the artwork he found on the paper, he was mostly surprised to see that Chiya had drawn him into it.

"What's this drawing..?"

Chiya opened her eyes slightly and looked over at him as her eyes streamed tears, "A- a picture I drew of my family…" Seppuku grunted and gritted his teeth, "It was a Christmas present for Earl…"

Seppuku continued to stare at the sketch of him, but regardless, he took steady aim at Chiya's now exposed face. He grinded his teeth as the two cried together, Chiya wasn't hiding her face from him; she was looking straight into Seppuku's eyes. Seppuku watched as her eyes quivered, a sight that instantly brought a specific memory back to his head.

"…I remember when I first saw those fearful eyes…" Chiya widened her eyes and grunted, "It was the night before the Grand Prix, and two sexual assaulters were preparing to rape you right on the street…" Chiya's stare only became more heavy as he spoke, "I came down and rescued you, saved you from a fate you didn't want…"

"S- Seppuku…"

He quirked his mouth and continued to growl at the two, he couldn't stand the sight of the two together; but Chiya's eyes had some effect on him—an effect he was very vulnerable to.

He began to tremble, but ultimately, he lowered his rifle and sighed loudly.

"I'm pathetic…"

Chiya and Earl both turned towards him, he put his assault rifle onto his back and sighed, "I knew it, I can't do it…" Earl exhaled in relief, Chiya blinked at him a few times, "I can't bring myself to kill the daughter I never wanted, even if you are the definition of evil in my eyes…"

Chiya let go of Earl and slowly stood up, "Seppuku…" she closed her eyes tightly and exhaled, "I love you, I've always loved you…" he raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't have a father anymore. You've always been a father figure to me, and no matter what trouble you may have gotten me into; I've never stopped admiring you…"

Seppuku was left speechless, Earl momentarily stood up and nodded, "Yeah, I've met a lot of people in the bar scene, but you by far were the only man I ever wanted to drink with all the time."

Chiya nodded quickly, "Earl and I didn't want you to go, we just felt cornered, we didn't want to go to prison, and we didn't want to live our lives as convicts…"

Earl nodded, "If we could go back in time, I would've hired a lawyer to defend against Jody."

Seppuku crossed his arms and sighed, "Really…"

Chiya clapped her hands together and faintly smiled, "Come on, Seppuku, i- it's Christmas! Can't you just forgive us?"

Seppuku looked away from the two and sighed loudly, he held his waist and quirked his mouth, "What progress have you made on Dark Million since I've been gone?"

Earl and Chiya exchanged glances, Earl scratched his chin, "U-uh, none..?"

Chiya nodded, "We beat Dark Million, they haven't shown their faces anywhere in nearly a year…"

"What!?" Seppuku stomped his foot down, "Black Shadow isn't dead! There's still work to be done!" he crossed his arms, "Look, I'll come back with you guys and resume control of the organization. I still need to settle the score with Dark Million personally…"

Earl and Chiya glanced at each other again, neither of them wanted to fight Dark Million, nor did they intend to. But whether they liked it or not, they owed Seppuku and would have to let him stay with them for the time being.

"I'm sorry that I don't have a present for you…" said Chiya.

Seppuku slowly grinned and turned his head towards Fiona's door, "Hm-m…"

Fiona was lying in bed with a taken back look on her face, "…thank God I put that lock on my door…" she said with a red face.

She widened her eyes and gasped as the door was suddenly kicked open by Seppuku. She covered herself up with her blanket as Seppuku marched his way towards her bed.

"L- Lieutenant-"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm a good guy again…"

She lowered her eyebrows and glanced away from him, "B- but…"

Seppuku shut the door behind him and locked it. He turned his head towards her and chuckled, "I'll explain in a moment," he approached her bed while chuckling, "But first, I think we should exchange Christmas presents…"

Fiona's eyes were quivering, but she momentarily lowered her eyelids and smirked, "Oh…" she lowered her blanket, "…finally…"

-and so on Christmas Day, Team Seppuku had been reunited. Seppuku plans on bringing the organization back the way it was; hunting for Black Shadow. The real issue Seppuku would be faced with, is that he has no idea just how far Chiya and Earl's relationship has gone.

…convincing two lovers to jump back into the vigilante life after having lived happily together for nearly a year; Seppuku may be getting his expectations up a bit too much…

To be continued…