==Lap 24=

It was early in the morning and Earl was sleeping safely back in his bed. Chiya and Seppuku had both placed well in the race, but the biggest highlight of that race by far was Blood Falcon's sudden demise-or so they believed, as Seppuku found this to be unlikely. Chiya and Seppuku had both come out of the race with little damage done to their vehicles, leaving Earl with simple touch ups to do on the F-Zero machines. He began to grunt in his sleep constantly, then began to shiver.

"What the Hell…" he muttered with a dazed tone.

He felt that something was very cold and burning on his forehead, followed by a liquid feeling moving down his forehead to his nose. He groaned and moved his hand slowly to his forehead in confusion, though he wasn't exactly awake; he could then tell that an ice cube was melting on his forehead-just by the texture of the cube. Earl lowered his eyebrows and shook his head slightly.

"I don't- huh?" he muttered in confusion. He then could hear a very silent giggle right in front of him, he raised his hand in front of him and finally found the source of all this-he could tell that he grasped some hair. He launched his eyes open, revealing Chiya very close up to his face with a playful look.

"Chi- Chiya, what the Hell are you doing?"

"I wanted to see how long it would take for you to wake up after I put an ice cube on your head."

Earl found the ice cube had fallen onto his chest, he picked it up and found that it was now only the size of his fingernail, "This is really small," he narrowed his eyes at her, "How long were you watching me..?"

Chiya shrugged, "Dunno' a few minutes…"

Earl covered up his chest with his blanket and glanced away from her, "That's kind of creepy Chiya, do I have to start locking my door?"

She shook his head at him franticly, "No, no, I just wanted you to wake up so we can talk about that race."

"What's there to talk about?"

She puckered her lips and shrugged, "I don't know, I just really wanna' talk about it, it was such an adventure!"

Earl then looked over at his alarm clock-it was only three in the morning, "Chiya get back to bed, it's too damn early in the day…"

Chiya dipped her head down with a disappointed look, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Look, just go back to bed for a few hours, we can talk later in the morning…"

Chiya smiled and nodded, "O-okay then!"

Earl easily collapsed back onto his pillow and shut his eyes, he wiped the water off of his forehead and smirked as he began to daze away. The sound of a blanket could then be heard, followed by somewhat of a plummeting noise, Earl opened his eyes somewhat startled and looked at the door-it was still closed. Earl fought to keep his eyes open as he scratched his head, he then looked down and found that Chiya was sleeping beside his bed.

"Any reason why you're sleeping right next to me?" he asked somewhat frustrated.

Chiya laid her head down on her pillow and looked away from him, "Mauser's litter box smells, so I've been sleeping here all night."

Earl jolted his head up at this, then exhaled, "So you've been in he- fine, whatever-goodnight."

A few hours later, Earl stood inside of the kitchen with two cups of coffee, as Chiya was just as fired up to talk about F-Zero as she was earlier in the morning. Earl was looking at the headline of a newspaper he had picked up minutes ago; the subject of Blood Falcon dying was all over the news-Seppuku was mentioned several times within the text. Blood Falcon getting struck by Seppuku was the most sudden and random thing many fans had ever seen, many were agreeing that Blood Falcon slowing down to level himself with Chiya is what gave Seppuku the sudden edge. Chiya momentarily opened the door with a bag in her hand, the bag was the first thing Earl looked at.

"Where ya' going?"

She shook her head negatively and lifted the bag up, "Oh no, this is my Mysterian varsity soccer uniform."

"Ah, so you were telling the truth."

Chiya gave him a cheeky look, "Of course I was," She then dropped down and began digging in her bag, "I'll showcase the uniform for you."

Earl grunted and stepped back, "R- right here? Shouldn't you change in the bathroom or something?"

She swished her hand at him, "I trust you, just turn around while I change."

Earl hesitantly turned around towards the kitchen appliances, he was both feeling flattered and uncomfortable. Chiya pulled all of the clothing out of the bag and reached for the collar of her shirt; she looked up at Earl cautiously. If he so much as turns his head, I'm gonna' thrust that head of his under the sink and soak him… she thought threateningly. Earl kicked his foot around with a feeling of discomfort, he then cleared his throat.

"Nice work taking out Blaskovitz, though a side attack would have been a better move."

Chiya got a look of thrill as she continued stripping down, "I know! I wish I would have side attacked him; as soon as I took him out, I had an adrenaline…"

Earl nodded his head and grinned, "Physically you don't stand a chance against Blaskovitz, but in an F-Zero machine you're just as powerful as him-if not more."

"Exactly what I was thinking! I think I might actually be better than Blaskovitz, maybe I can kill him on the track-all that'd be left is Dark Rose and Excalibur."

Earl chuckled, "Excalibur, that guy's not powerful-just well equipped."

"So-o he is a good looking guy though? Cause he held me down and kissed my cheek, wanna' make sure he's not some disgusting wanker…"

Earl smirked and nodded, "Yeah, he's a good looking guy."

"I wanna' improve on Seoli Idong incase I ever confront him again."

Earl tapped his foot impatiently, "Can I turn around yet?"

"Hold your engine, I don't even have my shorts on yet…"

Earl bit his lip and rolled his eyes, "See, this is why I'm such a cool person, someone like Jason Knox would have just turned around by now."

Chiya growled at him, "Don't bring up that rubbish…"

"Come to think of it, did you damage your machine at all?"

"No, I don't think so at least, though I probably scraped the paint while pushing against the Blood Hawk."

Earl moved his hand back and gave her a thumbs up, "You had that guy pinned pretty well."

"With the help of Captain Falcon, I'm hoping I gained some respect for aiding him."

Earl walked up to the sink and grabbed both cups of coffee off of the counter, he then stepped back again and held the coffee out behind him, "Made coffee."

"Hold on a sec'…" Earl took a sip out of his cup and licked his lips, Chiya then stomped her foot down loudly, "Okay, ready."

Earl spun around and took a look at her, initially impressed with her appearance, "Huh, wow!"

She grabbed the cup of coffee out of his hand and posed somewhat, she was now wearing a shiny white shirt with a green twenty-six on the front and back. She had black shorts, somewhat long white socks, and a pair of white and black tennis shoes on.

"Very hot, Chiya."

"Thank you."

Earl had a surprised grin on his face as he continued looking her over, "Considering you were seventeen when you last played, you fit perfectly in that."

"I was just as surprised-the shorts feel a little tight though," she puckered her lips and spun around, "Do they look tight?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Uh, no-they don't."

Chiya turned back around and bowed, "My coach said I was only an intermediate player at the best, but I had a quality that kept me on the team every year."

"I'm going to guess it was your cheery attitude."

"Close, it was my high spirits and lack of fatigue-I never gave up, there was never a reason to in my eyes," Earl got a grin at her reasoning and nodded in agreement, she brushed her hair aside with a look of guilt, "If only I wasn't so clumsy when I played, they may have considered me for our national team…"

"Being an F-Zero pilot is a much bigger accomplishment, and you can still represent Mysteria as a racer."

Chiya swatted her hands down, "I would like to race for Mysteria-but not the Queen."

Earl grinned, "Hey, now that's a good t-"

Seppuku then interrupted the two by kicking open the door, "You two, we're-" he then grunted as he looked at Chiya, "Flower! Put some different shorts on, that's so tight that your asscrack is showing."

Chiya let out a panicked gasp and grabbed her rear, then angrily turned towards Earl, "Earl! You lied to m-"

"Well gee, what was I suppose to say!?"

Chiya wiggled her fingers around with puckered lips, "Hey Chiya, your ass is showing!"

Earl chuckled at her and shook his head, then looked up at Seppuku, "What is it Seppuku?"

Seppuku crossed his arms at the two and nodded, "It's Silver Neelson's birthday, I invited him to a restaurant to celebrate-especially since he just got first place last race."

Chiya and Earl both groaned, Earl shook his head at him, "Why do we care? Why do you care?"

Seppuku growled at him, "Neelson's an old man and a good racer; along with that he's been one of my friends for years-so we're going."

Chiya grunted and looked at Earl, "I feel uncomfortable around old people…"

Seppuku hostilely poked her chin, "You might learn a thing or two from this wise man, so I expect you to come of all people."

Earl grinned, "So I don't have to go then?"

Seppuku looked down at Chiya, she shook her head negatively, "I'm not going if he's not going."

Seppuku began to tremble and growl furiously at the two.

A few minutes later, Seppuku was driving Earl's normal vehicle-as it had four seats. The sound of Chiya and Earl both grunting constantly could be heard in the back, Seppuku merely chuckled as he drove.

"Seppuku! This is unacceptable!" yelled Earl.

"Should have just agreed to come, then you wouldn't be in this mess-would you?"

Earl and Chiya were tied together back-to-back by Seppuku, Chiya had a look of discontent and a blazing red face of embarassment as she lay on her chest. Earl was yanking on the rope, trying to break free from it desperately.

"Ou-uch! Earl, don't pull on that, it keeps pushing against my belly."

Earl growled, "Dammit Seppuku, we're adults! You can't just tie us together like two siblings!" he barked loudly.

"I was going to cut you free once we got to the Upper City, but I'm finding this kind of funny now," he replied while laughing.

Earl continued to growl at him furiously, Chiya continued to whimper, "I don't like this, our rears are touching!"

Earl shut his eyes and blushed, "Chi- Chiya, shut up!"

The three eventually made it to a fairly large establishment, Seppuku had pulled Chiya and Earl out of the back and got them up on their feet. The two stood patiently for Seppuku to cut them free, but he then began to chuckle. Earl sighed and shook his head negatively.

"You're not gonna' let us go, are you?"

Seppuku smirked at the two, "How about once we get inside, follow me."

Earl growled and slowly began moving forward, Seppuku was finding humor in their struggle to walk-as both needed to move their legs in the correct sequence. Earl looked at the street to his left and grunted, he shot an angry look at Seppuku.

"Hey come on, people are looking at us!"

Seppuku shrugged at him as he waited near the door for the two, Earl grinded his teeth as they walked forward. Chiya began to laugh playfully, leaving Earl somewhat disturbed.

"What?"

She continued to laugh as she turned her head towards Earl, "This is kind of fun!"

"You say fun, I say awkward…"

Chiya was still in her soccer uniform since Seppuku had abruptly grabbed them on the spot. She was still laughing as they struggled to reach the door, Earl was only becoming aggravated at this-yet he was glad that Chiya found some entertainment from this. Seppuku stopped chuckling and walked over to the two with his claymore sword out.

"Alright, this is getting weird…" he said as he slashed the rope apart.

Earl immediately broke away from Chiya and exhaled in relief, Chiya remained still and brushed her back off. Seppuku walked towards the door to the restaurant silently, Earl followed him closely with an offended look.

"Let's get this over with, there's a movie coming on in a few hours I wanna' catch…"

Chiya puckered her lips, "What is it? Can I watch?"

Earl shrugged as they walked, "Sure, it's a movie about the navy."

A few minutes later, the three were at a table with Silver Neelson. He was a very old man with a long silver beard, he was very frail-trembling as he sat on his chair. Chiya was remaining silent, as she was somewhat shy of a person, Earl had a look of general disinterest, Seppuku had a grin as the four conversed.

"So is this the year you think you'll win the billion?" asked Seppuku.

Silver slammed his fist on the table, startling everyone but Seppuku, "Of course I won't! You kids are all the same, it's not about the race, it's about the destruction and rivalry!"

Chiya licked her lips and looked at him nervously, "So-o, you've never had a rival then?"

"Course I haven't, I focus on the race, not the war-and look how easy it was for me to win!"

Chiya placed her finger on her lip and thought about this, it was true that Silver Neelson remained in first the entire race without changing positions a single time. Silver pointed at Seppuku with a bitter look.

"Why didn't you try and beat me? You went ahead and killed that fella' yesterday! What about the race?"

Seppuku grinned at him, "Shut up old fool…"

Chiya's eyebrows were twitching at Seppuku in response, That's not something you say to a friend… Silver looked over at Chiya momentarily and grinned, "I must admit though, you stayed on me for quite a while, so you must be doing something right, for a new racer."

Chiya smiled at him, "I didn't even remember who Silver Neelson was, I assumed you were some hot man with big muscles when I was behind you."

Earl smirked at her and put his arm on the table, "I don't like to boast, but I-"

"Maybe back in the day, but now I'm practically on my death bed-this old man's life is over."

Seppuku shook his head defiantly, "Nah, you've got a good few years left of racing, old man."

"I can't wait to be free from this ruined sport, aint' been the same since Professor Stewart died, I'm one of the last clean racers on the track-the rest are just brutal killers."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "What was old F-Zero like?"

"Better, and the committee wasn't nearly as selfish-letting terrorists like Blood Falcon compete is an example of the extreme greed they have."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "But doesn't it bring drama into the races?"

"Drama? Why dun' we all just put on little skirts while we drive?"

The three began to laugh at his joke, Earl looked up at him with a grin, "Where do you get your machine fixed up?"

"I fix it, but I don't need to fix it because I'm a clean driver!" he spat back.

Earl nodded at him, "I see."

Silver sat back in his chair and exhaled, "I 'member back during a race when I was just about to finish against Black Shedow-"

"Black Shadow," Chiya corrected.

"That's what I said! Black Shedow!" he shouted back at her. She nodded at him and began to chuckle with Earl, the two were finding him fairly senile. "Anyways, I was about to finish the race alongside Black Shedow, and he decided that he would try rammin' me…"

He smirked as he tried to think, "The old fool completely missed me and crashed straight into Ninja Garah…"

Earl slammed his head down on the table and began to laugh, Chiya was laughing as well-but not as obnoxiously as Earl, Ninja Garah… she thought finding this mistake hilarious.

"The two machines both flipped over and were retired, and after the race ya' know what I did to Black Shedow?" he asked as he looked at Chiya. Chiya nodded at him with a smile, "I look at em' and I-"

The three waited for him to finish, Earl still chuckling somewhat at the Ninja Garah mistake. Chiya remained still as he stared into her eyes, but he wouldn't complete the story. Seppuku momentarily lost his grin and raised an eyebrow at Silver, he remained sitting completely still-his eyes were quivering at Chiya constantly. Chiya brushed her hair aside and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You did what to him?"

Silver still didn't respond, Chiya then noticed that his eyes stopped quivering-they were now still. Silver then fell forward into Chiya's chest, everyone immediately gasped-Chiya began to panic and grabbed his shoulders quickly.

"What the Hell!?" she panicked as she pushed his head away from her breasts.

"Silver!" Seppuku shouted.

Earl immediately got up and came around the table towards Chiya and Silver, Chiya was completely frightened as she held a seemingly lifeless Silver. Earl immediately grabbed his wrist and searched for a pulse-he immediately exhaled in relief.

"He has a pulse…"

Seppuku nodded pointed at Chiya, "Give him CPR."

Chiya widened her eyes and shook his head, "No wa- I don't know how to do that…" Seppuku then turned his head towards Earl and raised an eyebrow, but Earl gasped before he could respond.

"Uh oh, oh no…" Earl muttered as he pressed on his wrist.

Within moments, several people were starting to surround the four-the manager came running down the isle of people moments after.

Chiya looked at Earl with a frightened look, Earl gritted his teeth as he continued pressing down on Silver's wrist, "Pulse is getting fainter, fainter, fainter…"

Seppuku gritted his teeth and held his chin nervously as he watched Earl; Earl momentarily licked his lips and looked at the people surrounding them, then at Chiya-who had a sad look on her face. Earl bit his lip and rubbed his forehead with the other hand, then exhaled as he stood back up.

"He's gone…"

A day later, Earl and Chiya stood in very dark attire outside of Mute City. They were out in the grassland with several other people-only they were in a privatized area. Chiya was wearing a black dress with a short skirt, she had darkened stockings going up her legs. Earl was wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath-he picked out a bad sized dress shirt, as the collar was chafing his neck. The sky was fairly gloomy along with a fairly strong wind. Chiya looked over at all of the people sitting in chairs in dark clothing, Chiya and Earl were in a reserved area for personal friends of Silver Neelson-this was his funeral. Chiya stood perfectly still, her skirt and sleeves were the only thing blowing in the air-yet her hair was remaining still. She stood still with a doleful look, having only just met Silver Neelson for the first time-now he was dead. Unlike Chiya, Earl was more concerned about his chafed neck, constantly tugging on his collar with great discomfort.

"They couldn't have held this funeral off for a few more days, then I could've just ordered something my size…" complained Earl.

Chiya disregarded his complaint and remained still with a sad look, "It's so sad, he had such a good start to the Grand Prix…"

Earl quirked his mouth as he looked over at the coffin, "Try to look at this more brightly-now you're technically in fourth place, he died so you could get a better start."

Chiya bit her lip sadly and shook her head negatively, "I wish I could see it like that, but a famed racer died, I can't think about myself…"

"You know what's weird, that was his one-hundredth birthday," Chiya widened her eyes in amazement, Wonder if I'll go on to be a hundred… "He was around before the United Powers formed, that's incredible."

"What nation was he born in then?"

Earl tugged on his collar again as he thought, "Well, he must've been born around the time that the continents all became nations-so either the nation of Europe or America."

Chiya had a faint smile, "I wanna' visit the American continent one day…"

"The Northern or Southern part?"

"Northern, I guess…"

Earl laughed silently, "Just don't come back a big hockey fan, eh'?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped as Seppuku came walking down towards the stand, prepared to make a speech. Earl gritted his teeth and sighed, "This can't be good…"

Chiya's eyes were quivering as Seppuku approached the stand that was behind the coffin. Please act normal Seppuku… she begged to herself.

Seppuku grabbed the microphone and slammed his hand down obnoxiously on the stand, "What's up? I'm going to speak about my good friend, Silver Neelson…"

Chiya swished her hand at Earl, "Sounds like we're good, unless he starts acting inappropriate."

Seppuku cleared his throat, "Let's set the record, not only was Silver a damn good racer, but he was a badass too!"

Chiya and Earl both sighed, "I guess he doesn't regard the children that are here…"

"He knew how to knock the crap out of competitions and races, but only when he felt like it," several people began walking their children away from the seats, some were just covering their ears, "Now, he was a guy tougher than nails, he could kick any one of your asses in a fight-but not mine, I'd kick his ass."

"Oh my God…" Chiya muttered while holding her face in embarrassment.

Seppuku pointed up at Chiya and Earl, "Those are my two companions, Silver could have beat the crap out of them if he wanted-because that's just how he rolled…"

"Lieutenant!" yelled Jody Summer as she stood up from the crowd.

Seppuku raised the microphone up to his mouth, "Look, a bat!"

Earl sighed, "He-ere comes the smack down…."

Seppuku and Jody both walked towards each other angrily-an obvious rivalry visible between the two. Seppuku raised the microphone up to his mouth again as he approached her.

"Here we have the typical Federation, here to crash yet another funeral…"

Jody growled at him, "You did this at that last funeral, what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! I'm just speaking about my old friend!"

The crowd of people were all focusing on the two, Chiya continued to shake her head in disbelief, This isn't happening… Jody came up to Seppuku and jabbed him with her finger, "There are actual hurt people here, you're just provoking everyone with your vulgarity!"

"And you're bothering everyone with your obnoxiously loud voice!"

Jody narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not the one yelling into the microphone…"

"Your interruption of my speech is yet another example of Federation aggression towards the public, just like your lack of protection to my poor accomplice…" he said pointing at Chiya.

Chiya widened her eyes and was prepared to duck down, but it was too late-everyone was staring at her. Jody grunted nervously, Seppuku then got a grin and walked away from her with the microphone, "Chiya Flower was contained like an animal for about an hour, forced to go through a series of lethal cuts from a razor knife-she still hasn't recovered fully."

The crowd began to converse amongst each other in horror, Jody began to panic and looked around at all of the people already siding with Seppuku.

"The Federation didn't save her, we saved her-afterwards, all the Federation did was make empty promises to the public that they were doing all they could to stop Black Shadow, Chiya wasn't even compensated for her bravery-she chose the torture over revealing my location to Black Shadow, she likely kept Black Shadow from attacking Mute City..."

People began to shout and say things in agreement, Jody dropped her arms and gasped. Chiya rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Isn't this suppose to be a funeral?"

"Well, I did something, didn't I? I destroyed Blood Falcon, and Chiya nearly killed Brock Blaskovitz, that's more progress than the Federation has made in years!"

Jody finally grabbed Seppuku's arm angrily, "Just shut up and we can continue this discussion in privacy!"

Seppuku looked over at all of the enraged citizens-all siding with Seppuku greatly. He then looked back at Jody with a smirk, "It's a date."

The two then walked away together, Seppuku dropped the microphone on the ground as they walked. Earl tugged on his collar and looked back at Chiya, "Well, just like that-you're gonna' be all over the news again.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and continued to stare at Seppuku as he departed with Jody, she was wondering what more Seppuku could possibly want from Jody at this point-he had already blackmailed her for money. She bit her lip and looked back at the coffin, suddenly angered at both Seppuku and Jody for being rude.

"If you ask me, both Seppuku and Jody are criminals…"

To be continued…