==Lap 28=
There was something about the Upper City that all travelers loved. The portion of Mute City was rich, scenic, populated, and contained many opportunities; all of this created happiness amongst the citizens. However, this was not one of the brightest days for the Upper City, not many people knew about Bart Lemming's sacrifice, but it was as if his absence in the world was shrouding the entire city with a dark cloud. Bart was a well respected community member in Mute City, and his absence would undoubtedly take note in time.
The Throwdown tournament was complete, Earl was alive, and Brock Blaskovitz had been destroyed at last. Seppuku had successfully snatched important data from Brock's room, or one could say that he stole the snatched data from Jody Summer. Overall, Team Seppuku now had a Dark Million data disc, and Brock was dead; the original mission was a success. The true question, of course, was whether some data and a dead member of Dark Million was worth losing such a friendly person.
Several hours of the day had already gone by, and Good Odds had closed for the day. Chiya and Earl were still left shocked by what had happened, and naturally, a part of both adults hoped that things were not as they seemed, and that perhaps Bart Lemming had survived. There was only one place they could check to be sure, and unfortunately, they had already been waiting several hours for Bart to show up.
Bart's Café was silent as usual, no customers and no parked vehicles. Chiya and Earl were sitting in the spots they had grown so accustomed to, the lights to the establishment had been left on, bringing hope to the two that Bart had opened the café early in the morning as usual. As time went by, however, the sad truth seemed to come together; the café had clearly been left open all night.
Chiya was resting her chin down on the counter with lowered eyelids, Earl was still sitting up straight in his seat, neither of the two were talking very much. Earl blinked a few times as he gazed at the Open/Closed sign that hung from his door. He continued to gaze at the sign for nearly a minute, in his mind, he knew that all hope had been lost. The hardest part of the situation for him was that he would need to bring Chiya down with him eventually. Chiya was very determined to see her old friend once more, once she heard Earl give up, she would be crushed. Earl got a crushed look and dipped his head down sadly.
A lone cup of coffee sat on the end of the counter, Earl turned his head towards the cup and lowered his eyebrows fearfully. The cup had a special decal of a falcon on it and appears to have been drank from. Earl prepared to dip his finger into the coffee to see if it was still warm, but he hesitated as his fingertip neared the liquid. He could tell that the coffee was very cold without touching it. If Bart hadn't cleaned the counter of leftover coffee, then he knew it was curtains.
Earl closed his eyes and slowly turned his head towards his lover, "Chiya…" he spoke gently.
Chiya immediately widened her eyes and lowered her eyebrows, "B- Bart must really be busy fighting crime right now…"
Earl lowered his eyelids and sighed sadly, "Chiya, we've been here for nearly four hours…" he put his hand on her shoulder and frowned, "I think it's time we go home…"
Water instantly began to fill Chiya's eyes upon hearing this, she felt as if something was suddenly clogging her throat, "N- no, we should wait a few more minutes…" her lip began to quiver sadly as water continued to fill up her eyes, "Bart's probably just taking a long bathroom break…" she forced a smile onto her face as she resisted the urge to cry, "O- or maybe, maybe Bart's out flying…"
Earl raised an eyebrow, "Flying?"
"Y- yeah, you saw him, Bart can fly…" she swallowed her sorrow down and frowned again, "I know if I could fly, I wouldn't be hanging around here…"
Earl continued to stare at her for a few moments; Chiya dipped her head down again and looked down at her fingers. The denial in Chiya's words were immense, Earl knew that Chiya agreed with him, she simply didn't want to admit that it was over. Regardless of the fact that bottling up these emotions was bad, Earl nodded respectfully.
"Alright, we can stay a bit longer."
Chiya slightly nodded and rested her chin down on her arms as she stared at Bart's clock. Earl slowly turned his head away from her and closed his eyes sadly; Chiya bit her lip tightly and closed her eyes for a moment. Earl stood up as she kept her eyes closed. She breathed in heavily and exhaled, trying to keep herself from breaking down. She opened her eyes again and glanced over at Earl, but water immediately filled her eyes again after seeing what he was doing.
Earl lifted up the floor mat and swiped the key to the café into his hand. He slowly turned towards Chiya after doing this and sighed, she was now looking over at him with a quivering lip once again. As much as he didn't want to, he knew that it was best to simply go home. The longer they stay at the café, the harder this would be to get over.
Chiya's heart broke as soon as Earl put his finger on the light switch to the café. He sighed loudly and opened the door after turning off the lights; he plugged the key into the door and locked it. Chiya shook negatively with a somewhat red face.
"Earl, stop, Bart will be mad if you lock him out of his café…"
Earl sighed and lowered his eyelids at her, "Chiya…"
Chiya continued to stare at him for several moments, but she couldn't help that she wanted to believe that Bart's survival was plausible. Her face momentarily shriveled up, and the tears finally came flowing out of her. Earl frowned and found that his eyes were watering up as well; it only took a few seconds for Chiya to enter a very upset state of loud wailing. Earl looked down at the floor without anything to say in response.
He approached her and wrapped his arm around her, helping her off of her usual seat. She looked back at her seat while crying loudly as Earl guided her to the door.
"I- I don't wanna' say goodbye, Earl!"
Earl patted her shoulders and flipped the Open/Closed sign to Closed, "I know, Chiya, it's going to be alright…"
Earl tried closing the door for the final time, but Chiya had grasped the wall at the last moment to block the door. Earl turned towards her as tears began to go down his face.
"Come on, Chiya, I know this is hard but…"
Chiya continued to wail loudly, she was still looking at her usual chair, "I don't want to say good-bye, Earl! Not yet, not yet!"
Earl stopped trying to pull her away from the café, she immediately let go of him and ran back inside crying. He grunted and blinked a few times as Chiya immediately leapt back onto her chair and proceeded to cry over the counter. Earl remained standing outside the café watching her sadly; he immediately began to think of a way he could convince her to leave the café for good.
Seppuku was later walking down the hallway of the base. He now had a data disc containing information on Dark Million, but he was still searching for any actual data of importance. Considering Seppuku was a Federation detective, he was certain that he would find something of interest to him eventually. Either way, he couldn't focus on the disc, as a constant unsettling noise echoed throughout the base for nearly an hour.
Chiya's loud crying had been going on ever since she got home; it wasn't until she entered her room that her crying had become loud. Earl was sitting in his old room to cry as well, but not as loudly nor intensely. Seppuku was only somewhat sad for Chiya, as he misunderstood just how much of a friend Bart Lemming was to her.
Seppuku grasped Chiya's doorknob and opened the door slightly, he was practically blown back by Chiya's crying—his ears immediately began to ring, as if she were shouting into his eardrum. Seppuku didn't say anything, but he was very intrigued by Chiya's appearance.
Chiya was lying in only her undergarments; she had her legs and arms wrapped around the chair from Bart's Café as she cried, as she refused to leave without it. Seppuku continued to stare at her for several moments, pondering why she was latched onto a café chair half naked. Moments later, Seppuku concluded this silent moment by closing the door and turning around. He shut the door behind him and puckered his lips. Next, he looked forward towards Earl's old bedroom; which was now Seppuku's bedroom.
Earl was sitting in the middle of the floor while holding his head in great frustration. His eyes were quivering immensely as he tightened his grasp of his forehead, the sounds of Chiya's sorrow was driving him insane. Earl wasn't annoyed by her crying, rather, he merely wanted her to calm down. The thought of Chiya being sad always brought great pain to him; unfortunately, this wasn't something he could fix on his own.
Seppuku kicked open the door and immediately crossed his arms, Earl looked up at him and gritted his teeth.
"Earl, I think you're too late."
"Huh?" he responded softly.
"I think Flower's trying to have sex with that chair…"
Earl lowered his eyelids and sighed, he wasn't in the mood to respond negatively to the joke, "Honestly, if having sex with Chiya would calm her down, I'd definitely do it at this point…" he shut his eyes tightly, "I just want her to be happy again! Not even Mauser and Siberia's company could calm her down this time…"
Seppuku turned his head and looked up at the Korean flag that remained pinned to the wall. Earl dipped his head down once more and let out a heavy sigh. Finally, Seppuku glanced over at the Excalibur helmet that was resting near a dresser; this caused him to raise both of his eyebrows.
"You realize the actual situation we're in with Bart dead, right?"
Earl immediately nodded, "Uh, yeah!" he groaned loudly and shook negatively, "Why did he have to kill himself? What was the point..?"
"He always was a man who desired drama," he crossed his arms with an irritated expression, "Apparently looking cool was more important to him than protecting humanity…"
Earl closed his eyes and shook negatively, "Poor Chiya…"
The two remained silent and listened to Chiya wail loudly; Earl groaned loudly and shook much faster. Seppuku turned towards the door and quirked his mouth, "Perhaps we should both try and get through to her."
Earl stood up and looked him in the eyes, "Chiya needs time to herself, not pressuring."
"Idiot, Flower needs to understand that she still has two great friends that aren't going anywhere," Earl widened his eyes and grunted, "Lemming would have wanted us to go on without him. Bart's absence doesn't screw us over yet, Dark Million is now down to Black Shadow and Blood Falcon. If I can just find his ship, I can kill both of them myself!" he smirked and took off his glove, reaching down towards Earl, "Now, come on, let's go comfort that broken spirit."
Earl blinked a few times in shock, a slight smile formed as he reached for Seppuku's hand. The two grasped hands, but Seppuku's grasp was very tight and strong. Seppuku helped Earl up with a serious look.
"Wow, Lieutenant Seppuku knows about friendship."
"Watch it, Bendek, I used to have a damn good friend…"
The two stood up together, both now had grins as they faced the door, ready to help coax Chiya into a happier place. Earl opened the door for Seppuku and smirked.
"Man, so you faced off with Jody Summer last night?"
Seppuku chuckled, "That's right, stole the data disc from her."
"You must've kicked her ass…"
Seppuku grunted loudly and dipped his head down; "Uh…" he gritted his teeth and forced a fake look of pride onto his face, "Yeah! She was no problem, at all! I didn't even need to punch her, I just grabbed her by the hand, lifted her up into the air, stole the disc, and was on my way!" he responded frantically.
The door to Chiya's bedroom opened slowly, this time followed by a creaking. Chiya opened her eyes slightly as tears continued to run, the sound of the door opening both comforted and pestered her. She wrapped her feet around the café chair and began to rub her hands along the cushion.
"Y- you can lay beside me if you want, I'll try to stop crying…" she whimpered softly.
She rested her head down against her pillow and sniffled while rubbing her hands along the cushion. Chiya was sad, but she would always feel better expressing her pain with Earl, even if he was no less sad about what had happened. She closed her eyes and dipped her head down slightly while sniffling.
All of a sudden, Chiya's eyes were shot to life as she found herself bouncing up. Seppuku had leapt onto the bed beside her and immediately crossed his leg over his knee. He grinned and exhaled calmly as he relaxed on her bed.
"Damn, this is a nice bed."
Chiya turned her head and glared at him, "What are you doing!?"
"You said that-"
"I meant that Earl could lay here!"
Without any questioning, Seppuku stood back up and stood beside the bed. Both Earl and Seppuku stood in front of the bed as Chiya continued to whimper to herself. Earl frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets.
Chiya slightly opened her eyes and sighed, "I guess Bart grew some wings and flew to heaven…"
Earl frowned immensely, Seppuku hummed, "Actually, no; the energy from his body likely just drifted off into existence-"
He was suddenly elbowed by Earl, who now had a heavy glare.
"Bart was my friend…" she dipped her face down into her chest, "If only we had practiced a bit more, Earl would have defeated Blaskovitz on his own, and none of this would have ever happened…"
Seppuku sat down next to her and sighed, Earl raised an eyebrow at him. He put his hand down on Chiya's shoulder and nodded, "Bart Lemming was a good man, Chiya. He was friends with just about everyone, even Jody and I, at one point."
Chiya sniffled and turned onto her back after wiping her eye, "You and Jody were friends with Bart?"
Seppuku had entered a very silent state, he gazed aimlessly towards the wall as he thought about this. Earl was staring at Seppuku with great interest, Chiya had stopped crying, but was still beyond sad. Seppuku looked down at his finger and quirked his mouth.
"Believe it or not, my relationship with Bart Lemming was very similar, for a time…" he smirked and crossed his arms, "Jody and I used to have a complex friendship. Much like you two, we would often go to the café to hang out, not because we were on a mission or anything."
"Did Jody sit on this chair?"
"Clearly not, because she would have crushed it with her big ass!" he responded with laughter following.
Chiya frowned, "That's really mean…"
Seppuku looked down at her with a grin, "What I'm trying to say, is that Bart Lemming was everyone's friend. He died so Blaskovitz wouldn't hurt any more innocent lives," silence ensued for a few seconds, he then tilted his fedora down, "Of course, there is an actual situation at hands with Lemming gone…"
"What's that?"
Seppuku hummed slowly while rubbing his chin, Earl grabbed his shoulder and nodded, "Come on, can we just tell her?"
Chiya gazed into Seppuku's eyes, realizing that the two knew something that she didn't. Seppuku thought about this for a few moments, but ultimately came up with a well constructed proper response.
"No."
Chiya sniffled and sat up with lacking enthusiasm, "W- will there be a Bart Lemming funeral?"
"Bart has no family to do this, now that he's gone, the Lemming family tree is dead," he raised his eyebrows and snapped his fingers, "Well, technically, it's dead."
"But can we do something nice and Christian-like for him?"
"I suppose..!" he said in an irritated tone.
Earl handed Chiya her shorts and sat beside her, "It'll be alright, Chiya. We got through Dark Rose, we can get through this…"
She lowered her eyelids and sighed loudly, she quickly put on her shorts and threw her shirt back on, "I'll try and calm down…" she closed her eyes and forced her stock hat on with a glum look, "The data disc, what was in it?"
Seppuku smirked at her, "I'm still trying to decipher it. From what I understand, however, it contains the location of something."
"Black Shadow's ship?" Earl proposed.
"Maybe, we could only hope."
Chiya finally opened her eyes, which were somewhat red, "Well, come on then, let's get it deciphered right now."
"Later, I've been working on something else right now and am proud to say that I have a lead…" Chiya and Earl both raised their eyebrows, Seppuku chuckled softly, "Zoda is still here in the Lower City."
Earl gasped, "He didn't leave yet!?"
"He's been hanging around the western part of the Lower City, and as you know, he currently has my machine…"
Chiya widened her eyes, "Please, Seppuku, don't kill him!"
"Why not!?" he barked back.
Chiya's eyes instantly began to water up again, "B- because, I don't want another person I like to die…"
Earl and Seppuku exchanged glances, Earl nodded with lowered eyebrows. Seppuku growled very softly for about ten seconds, but hesitantly nodded in agreement.
"Fine, but I can't make any promises that his scrawny neck will still be straight after I'm through with him…"
The sun had gone down, and the streets of the Lower City were dark and silent as usual. Earl's shiny black vehicle was driving down a street quickly, the headlights were illuminating the entire area. Earl was behind the wheel, Seppuku was sitting beside him, and Chiya sat alone in the back with a sad look.
Despite how sad Chiya was, she was still willing to come along on their mission to find Zoda. Her general fear was that Seppuku would slaughter him, she wanted to be present so she could attempt to stop him. Ultimately, Seppuku was somewhat bothered by her presence on the account that she was so gloomy; Earl felt that staying beside friends would be a good idea. The café chair, however, was in the backseat with her.
Earl stuck his tongue out as he studied a map Seppuku had printed, the GPS system was unable to track down the address Zoda was apparently hiding at. They were heading for the western section of the Lower City, which was well known for being the only part of the city that refused to accept that the gang war was over. Most of the Lower City accepted that the ordinary street criminal was the only kind of criminal they would encounter. The citizens of the west side, refused to accept that Red Star and the Bloody Chain were truly gone, and that the gangs would rise again to strike fear into the people. There were indeed still violent gangs in the Lower City, but none as large as Red Star or the Bloody Chain.
"Turn here," ordered Seppuku.
Earl widened his eyes and hit the brakes, everyone in the car jolted forward. Chiya could feel her heart begin to beat much faster. Seppuku whipped his head around towards Earl and let out a violent hiss.
"I said turn!"
Earl slapped the map down and glared, "Sorry! I'm not familiar with this particular ghetto!"
"Please, stop fighting!" Chiya panicked.
The two looked away from each other. Earl signaled for a right turn and did as Seppuku had asked; the reasoning for the abrupt stop was that Earl had nearly missed the turn. Seppuku crossed his arms and nodded slightly.
"Sorry, I'm just pretty damn pissed off right now…" he chuckled sarcastically, "My childhood toy was stolen from me, and now Bart Lemming is dead. Both things are a lot to take in…"
Chiya quirked her mouth, "Childhood toy?" she momentarily smiled and punched Earl's arm, "Earl, may I have the back massager?"
Seppuku raised an eyebrow, "Back massager?"
Earl grunted loudly and widened his eyes, "Uh, not now, Chiya; I'm driving."
"Back massager?" Seppuku asked again.
The vehicle continued down a very dark alley, several bums began to peer around the corner and stare at the lone vehicle. The eyes of a bum was fixated on the vehicle, his stomach growled immensely out of starvation. He slowly licked his lips and began to walk down the alley, almost as if he were a zombie.
Chiya quirked her mouth and began to tremble somewhat, the alley was pitch black and unusually wide. Seppuku had a calm look, as if he were finding the gloomy alley a scenic place. This was the first time of the day that Chiya wasn't thinking about Bart, she was suddenly finding herself panicking about the alley.
"W- what is Zoda doing in an alley?" she finally asked.
Seppuku hummed, "Well, Zoda posted 'Help me!' on F-Book with the address of this alley, so-"
"What?"
"What!?"
Seppuku raised his eyebrows, "What?"
Both Earl and Chiya were nervous now, they were unaware of the fact that Zoda had sent out a distress call. The general assumption was that Seppuku had tracked him back to his lair. Earl continued to glare at Seppuku as they drove down the dark alley.
"Uh, you didn't find that a bit unusual?"
Seppuku nodded, "That's why we brought some little toys along."
Chiya lowered her eyelids and turned towards a rocket launcher that was on the floor, "I understand why we brought assault weapons, but a rocket launcher..?"
"There could be tanks, Chiya."
Earl snorted humorously, "Oh, for sure…"
"Okay, so maybe not a tank. But if Jody Summer gets in our-"
Everyone in the car jolted forward as Earl had once again hit the brakes, this time Seppuku hit his head. Chiya gasped and brought her head up, Seppuku growled loudly and grasped Earl's shoulder.
"Whoever your driving instructor was, he or she needs to be gagged to death!"
"Duck!" shouted Earl.
Seppuku turned his head and grunted, Zoda was standing against the wall of the alley with a very thin barreled handgun centered on the vehicle. Chiya gritted her teeth and ducked down, Earl hid under the steering wheel while trembling. Seppuku turned towards Earl with a strict finger.
"Honk the horn, that'll scare-"
Both gasped as Chiya had opened her door and stepped out cautiously, Earl turned towards her immediately and shook negatively, "Chiya, no! He has a gun!"
Chiya didn't heed his advice, she was holding onto her trusty handgun while kneeling behind the opened door. She held her hand up while shaking negatively.
"Zoda!" she called loudly.
Zoda's eyes widened upon hearing her voice, her blonde hair was slightly visible to him through the darkness. He squinted and held his hand over his eyes.
"Chiya? Chiya Flower?"
"No, Chiya Patty Flipper…" Seppuku responded sarcastically after getting out.
Zoda gasped and held his handgun back up, "Oh, Jesus!" Seppuku pulled the rocket launcher over his shoulder, "O- oh, oh God!"
Chiya growled loudly at Seppuku, "Hey! Knock it off!"
Seppuku continued to hold the rocket launcher, but he momentarily nodded and lowered it. Earl took a step out of the vehicle, but unlike Seppuku and Chiya, something else came to his immediate attention. He sniffed the air and widened his eyes after grunting.
"Jesus Christ! What is that stench?"
Zoda's eyes slowly moved left, Chiya lowered her eyebrows and glanced to her right. The foot of a man could slightly be seen because of the vehicle's light, a puddle of blood was on the ground beside the foot.
"Wh- what is that?"
Zoda dipped his head down, "I- I didn't mean to…"
Seppuku raised the rocket launcher again, "That better be Black Shadow's body…"
"I was running around the Lower City with my newly acquired cash, looking for a place to hide. This afternoon, I was spotted by a Lower City cop-"
"A cop!?" Earl and Chiya both looked at Seppuku with raised eyebrows, "A cop! Progress, Summer, progress!" he celebrated sarcastically.
Chiya and Earl both sighed, Chiya turned her head towards Zoda, "Go on."
"I was chased by this cop, and eventually I had to resort to running in here. For some reason, the cop didn't follow…" he swallowed while trembling, "Next thing I know, I'm being chased down by zombies!"
Earl and Seppuku both got looks of disinterest, knowing this to be an obvious lie. Chiya, however, instantly found that her legs were shaking, "Z- z- zombies!?" she turned her head around and gazed out into the darkness, "Are they nice zombies at least?"
Seppuku began to laugh loudly, "There's no such thing as a zombie," he rubbed his chin and shrugged, "Well, there's Jody without her makeup, I suppose…"
Earl grasped his waist and chuckled, "What do you mean by zombie?"
"I found a beggar in this alley, he asked for some loose change, so I gave him some, and before I knew it, I was being attacked by disgusting, tattered, smelly-"
"Bums," Seppuku answered.
Zoda grunted and gritted his teeth, he dropped his handgun down and quirked his mouth, "Wait, bums?"
"Bums."
"Not zombies?"
Seppuku shook negatively, "No, you idiot. You give one bum some change, you gotta' give them all some; it's best that you just don't give them any. This is a concept both Jody and I agree with."
Chiya covered a gasp, "So you killed a poor bum!?"
"It was self-defense!"
Seppuku gave him a swift thumbs up, "Good work, Zoda; shoot first, ask later. That's the Seppuku way of living."
Earl shook negatively, "More like the Am-"
Everyone but Seppuku gasped upon hearing several footsteps surrounding them, Chiya immediately grabbed Earl while shaking, "Zombies!"
"I thought we just established that they're-"
Chiya began to shake Earl frantically, "Let's go home!"
Within a few moments nearly ten hands latched on to the black vehicle. Chiya screamed and stepped back, she held her handgun up and took aim at the vehicle.
"Screw it! Shoot first, ask later!"
Earl grabbed her hand and grunted loudly, "Ch- Chiya! These are poor citizens!"
Seppuku backed up towards Zoda with his teeth gritted, "They may not be zombies, but I'm pretty sure they're well above the idea of stealing your virginity."
Earl glared at Seppuku and held Chiya more tightly, "Sh- shut up, man!"
Seppuku and Zoda both appeared frantic, but despite the situation they were in, Seppuku still had his eyes on the prize.
"Where's my girl, Zoda?"
Zoda glared at him, "Y- your daughter?"
"My machine!"
Zoda was looking back and forth at Seppuku and the vehicle, "I- I- where do you think I got the money from?"
Seppuku dropped his jaw, he immediately punched Zoda across the face, forcing him to drop his gun. Next, Seppuku grasped his thin neck and proceeded to strangle him.
"How much did you make off of her!?" he demanded while throttling him.
"O- one million!"
Seppuku barred his teeth and growled like an animal, "O- one mill- The Red Dove is worth nearly five million!"
Zoda widened his eyes, then shut them tightly, "I- I got ripped off…"
Chiya turned towards the two and glared, "For God's sake, Seppuku! Our lives and Earl's virginity is at stake here!"
Earl continued to concentrate on the vehicle, but he grunted and lowered his eyebrows upon hearing her concern, "Wait, what?"
Seppuku tossed Zoda down and picked up his handgun, he plugged the barrel of the handgun down Zoda's mouth and growled, "Tell me who you sold it to, or I'll give this wall a fresh coat of paint…"
Chiya and Earl continued to back up towards the two, there was well over twenty bums approaching them from the darkness-some even being children. The desire for money had turned the families of this alley into barbaric animals.
Zoda shook negatively, "I'm not telling you unless you can get me out of here!"
Seppuku smirked, "Oh, okay, good-bye then."
Zoda grunted, "Uh, uh, b- but if you kill me, you'll never find it!"
Seppuku gasped and bit his lip, having not considered this. While killing Zoda was a fantasy to Seppuku, living without the machine he grew up with as a child was heartbreaking. Ultimately, he nodded dropped Zoda down.
"If you back down on this promise, I'm not going to kill you…" Zoda exhaled in relief, "I'm going to find and cut off both of your arms, then come back in a week and take your legs."
Chiya finally stomped her foot down and growled in blazing fury, "If you two don't shut up and do something about these bums, I'll cut both of your legs off!"
Zoda's mouth instantly snapped shut, but Seppuku grinned at Chiya. As the four were about to be pinned against the wall of the alley, Seppuku finally decided to act.
"Alright, time to show these assholes who they're messing with…"
Everyone, including the approaching bums, gasped as Seppuku knelt down and aimed the rocket launcher up towards the sky.
Jody Summer was in her pajamas doing work behind her desk. She was very upset that Seppuku had stolen the data disc from her, but she wasn't going to let this get in her way. She was confident that she would either find Seppuku and extract the information from him, or discover the whereabouts of Black Shadow some other way.
She sighed loudly and dipped her head down, "The bastard stole a kiss and ran…" she admitted aloud. She closed her eyes and exhaled calmly, "He humiliated me…" she exhaled again, this time more loudly, "I just need to calm down, soothe my mind…"
Her eyes momentarily shot open upon hearing a whistling sound, followed by a bright flare. Seppuku's rocket had shot up high into the air and had already flown higher than the Federation HQ. She widened her eyes and spun around, catching the rocket just in time. The rocket exploded in midair, lighting up the entire metropolis. She watched as the fireball explosion expanded in the air, the sound of citizens panicking in the Upper City could momentarily be heard.
Veins began to pop in Jody's forehead as she gazed at the explosion in immense frustration. In response to the explosion, she grabbed a stress ball off of her desk and shouted in fury.
The four were left utterly shocked, there were much more bums than they had envisioned. The explosion in the sky had lit up the alley, revealing nearly a hundred startled bums. The rocket was all that was needed to scare everyone back, many of them remained close to the vehicle, still hoping to acquire money from the four. Chiya was left beyond disturbed to see this, all of these people had swarmed into the alley to collect from Zoda. Chiya was disturbed, but Seppuku was outraged. For many years he had seen the unfortunates of the Lower City, but never so many in one place. He knew that there were many more within the Lower City; the many bums in the alley only made up a sliver of the total amount in the Lower City. Seppuku's mission was to reacquire the Red Dove, but he finally had enough.
Seppuku stepped forward and stomped his foot down on a crushed soda can, the light from the explosion was dimming, but the crowd of bums could still be seen. The headlights of Earl's vehicle was shining upon Seppuku. Full of great enthusiasm, Seppuku fired his hand forth.
"People of the Lower City, open your ears!" Chiya grunted and covered her mouth, "You all expect to mug us for some quick cash. There's well over a hundred of you in this one alley, and you expect to share our wallets amongst each other? Are you insane!?"
Several of the bums began to share glances and speak silently, Chiya and Earl exchanged glances, Zoda was still trembling immensely. It only took Chiya moments to understand that Seppuku was going to try and resolve the issue through a rare method-he was going to use his words.
"You all act this way for a reason that's completely understandable. You are hungry, your children are starving, and food is non-existent down here. Believe me when I tell you, I understand. However, you are targeting the wrong people!"
Chiya fired her fist up and nodded, "Yeah! You should be targeting Black Shadow, not-"
"No, not Black Shadow…" Seppuku pointed up at the Federation HQ, "Jody Summer has been refusing to help you people for years. She spends more money on her F-Zero machine than she does on the Lower City!" he waved his hands around and fake chuckled, "Let me ask you, how many food stamps do you have?"
Seppuku couldn't see the bums through the darkness, but he could tell that they were listening. He smirked and nodded swiftly. Chiya turned towards Earl and got up to his ear.
"What's a food stamp?" she asked quietly.
"Free stamps issued by the government, exchanged for food…" he whispered back.
Seppuku chuckled, "Oh, that's right! The Federation doesn't provide food stamps to you, all they care about is their military and space colonies!" Loud complaining suddenly engulfed the alley, Seppuku chuckled while nodding, "That's right. Instead of providing food stamps to all of you, the Federation purchases more tanks, more ships, more investments into universal exploration!" he smacked his fist into his palms, "Jody Summer doesn't care about you! She only offers her empty promises! Promises for change, but in reality, change won't occur down here for many years!"
Chiya and Earl both gasped as more of an uproar had formed, Seppuku was succeeding in rallying the unfortunates of the Lower City together. Earl had never seen such a thing before, but surprisingly, someone else had. Chiya's eyes were quivering immensely as she watched Seppuku speak. She was instantly reminded of her childhood, where she would watch her father preach on about socialism to local Mysterian communities. This was all too familiar to Chiya.
"Doesn't it strike you that we're not allowed to vote down here? No food stamps, no say in any matters, no jobs, and no protection…" he swatted his fist against his heart and stomped his foot down, "I have acted as the protector of the Lower City for long enough. You are all second class citizens, and it is time to rise up!" Seppuku pointed at the Federation HQ furiously, "March! Go! Swarm the Federation HQ and demand your little food stamps! The people of the Upper City can afford the extra taxes! The treatment of people from the Lower City must come to and end, and it all starts with free food!"
Chiya smiled, "I like food."
Earl shook negatively, "You don't exactly get fine cuisine out of food stamps though. Besides, we're not broke, we shouldn't cheat the system."
Seppuku held both of his hands into the air, "Go! Spread the word! Swarm the Federation HQ and demand food stamps, this is the only way you will survive the coming years!"
Seppuku's inspiring words did the trick. All at once, most of the bums in the alley turned while cheering, fully intending on doing as they were ordered. Seppuku held his waist with great pride, he was foreseeing a form of non-violent revolution, one that would contain many protests. Deep inside, Seppuku spoke from the heart, but in reality, he just wanted Jody to suffer.
Chiya and Earl approached Seppuku with looks of shock, he continued to stand tall in front of the vehicle as he listened to the marching of his future protestors.
Earl raised his eyebrows, "So you really believe in this, huh?"
Seppuku chuckled, "I don't care, I was just thinking how we could turn a situation into a blessing."
Zoda hummed, "Blessing?"
"Jody's gonna' be pissed, isn't she?"
The four were later driving down the streets of the Lower City, Zoda was sitting in the back beside Chiya. Seppuku wasn't happy that Zoda was with them, but he was being kind enough to bring him back to the central part of the Lower City. The vehicle was silent, as Seppuku couldn't even remember what he wanted from Zoda. Chiya was constantly looking up at Zoda, as she could remember. She smiled and dipped her head down.
"So, where's the Red-"
Seppuku slammed his fists down and turned towards Zoda, "Oh yeah! Where's my machine you skinny bastard!?"
Earl was concentrating on driving, Chiya and Seppuku were both staring at Zoda. Zoda began to shake nervously, "Um…" he dipped his head down and exhaled, "Well, I sold it…"
"Yeah, to who?"
"Samurai Goroh."
Everybody suddenly jolted forward as Earl came to another abrupt stop, everyone appeared shocked, except for Seppuku, who had instantly turned towards Earl furiously.
"What now!?"
Earl began to drive again, "I, uh, was just surprised…"
Seppuku quirked his mouth and slowly turned towards Zoda, "You better be joking…"
"I made some offers online, and Goroh offered me a million credits for it. If you want your machine back, you'll need to find him."
Seppuku remained absolutely silent, furious at this. He proceeded to grind his teeth roughly, his fang-like teeth scraping against his molars.
"Hey, Chiya; did you know that Zoda was the one who ordered the bombing of Mysteria all those years ago?"
Chiya's jaw dropped, and a glare was instantly brought onto her face, "What!?"
"Yeah, so can we kill him?"
Zoda gasped, "N- no, no, no! I wasn't even a member of Dark Million at that point!" Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, then looked at Seppuku, "I swear!"
Chiya puckered her lips, "…pinkie swear?"
Zoda immediately crossed his finger with hers, "Yes!"
"Okay, I believe you."
"Bullshit!"
Zoda held his hands up, "Look, I'm sorry that I sold your machine."
"Go to Hell…"
Chiya got an offended look and pointed at Seppuku, "Hey, it was probably an accident."
"W- what!?"
"My father accidentally sold my favorite doll when I was little. It can happen."
Seppuku face palmed and sank into his seat as he groaned, "…this isn't happening…" he wiped his hands down his face and sighed loudly, "Okay, Earl, drop him off on that street corner. I just want to get home and decipher that damn disc."
"Disc?" asked Zoda.
"Shut up!" ordered Seppuku.
Chiya and Zoda faced each other, "We have a disc that was written by Black Shadow. We're trying to decipher it, but it's in some unknown language…"
Zoda blinked a few times at her, he put his finger on his lip and hummed slowly. He sank into his seat and continued to make loud hums. Seppuku growled loudly with a vein popping off of his forehead.
"Unless the next thing that comes out of your mouth is the location of an abandoned F-Zero machine worth one billion-"
"No, hold on. You say that this disc was written by Black Shadow?"
"Yeah?"
Zoda sighed with a grin, "Well, I just so happen to have written many of those discs while I worked for him."
Seppuku pointed at Earl swiftly, "Hit the brakes!"
"What?"
"Hit the brakes, now!"
Earl hit the brakes very abruptly, causing everyone to jolt forward once more. Seppuku quickly spun around and pointed at Zoda, "You're going to pay me for selling the Red Dove, by translating this disc for us…"
"I suppose I could do that…" he chuckled and scratched his chin, "I'm thinking I could do it for, say, five hundred credits?"
Zoda grunted as Seppuku had suddenly forced a handgun down against his crotch, "You'll do it for free, if you desire to ever have children…"
"Whoa! Okay, okay!"
Chiya tilted her head with a squirming lip, "Why did we hit the brakes?"
The four later stood in Seppuku's office. Seppuku was still acting very hostile towards Zoda, but was treating him neutrally for the time being. Seppuku knew how to decipher the disc himself, but Zoda claimed to have written these discs, meaning he knew the coding language fluently. Translating the disc would go much faster if Zoda were to do it.
Seppuku poked his computer monitor, revealing a large page of text. Zoda peered over his shoulder and hummed loudly. Earl and Chiya were watching the two from the front of the desk. Zoda continued to hum constantly in different pitches, his eyes were quickly reading the first page-but there were hundreds of pages.
"Mm-m, mhm, m-mhm-m…"
"Your humming is irritating and makes me want to snap your neck like a twig."
Chiya glared, "Seppuku!"
"Alright, alright. Your humming is irritating."
Zoda put his finger across the screen and quirked his mouth, "This is a written task for a Brock Blaskovitz?"
Seppuku slammed his fist down, "What kind of task did Black Shadow give him!?"
"Um-m, hm-m…"
Zoda grunted as Seppuku then grasped his throat and proceeded to strangle him, "Annoying! Annoying! Annoying!"
"Seppuku, stop!"
Chiya slapped his hand roughly, Seppuku released Zoda immediately after. The scrawny man immediately backed away from the desk while trembling.
"Okay, I don't like this guy!" he panicked.
Seppuku stood up and pointed at him, "Well, I don't like you!"
Chiya slammed her hands down, "Shut up!" Seppuku's lip immediately dropped in shock, she looked over at Zoda and exhaled, "Zoda, can you finish translating this?"
"It would take a day or two…"
Seppuku groaned, "Oh, God dammit. Here we go again! We gotta' tie up and blindfold another Dark Million lackey!"
Zoda quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "I would feel safer taking this disc back to my lair…"
Earl and Seppuku both appeared disinterested by this proposal, but Chiya stood by Zoda's side and nodded approvingly. Seppuku shook negatively, "No way. This disc very well may be our only shot at finding Black Shadow immediately."
Zoda held two fingers up, "Two days, I'll translate this disc and burn it onto a new one. I'll bring the translated version over in two days."
"Out of the question!"
Earl nodded in agreement, "Yeah, why would we entrust you with this disc, when we could bring this to a professional code breaker in the Upper City?"
"Because I'm the only hacker who is familiar with this language." Seppuku and Earl exchanged glances, Zoda waved two fingers around, "Two days."
Seppuku grinned, "-and I suppose there's some catch?"
Zoda nodded, "Yes, when you find Black Shadow and kill him, I want you guys to give me credit…"
"No."
"I want the universe to know that I've changed, that I helped bring down that monster."
"No."
"-and that Jody Summer was wrong to put a bounty on my head."
Seppuku ejected the disc from his computer and handed it over to Zoda, "Alright, enjoy!"
The upcoming race on Port Town was close. Seppuku was without a machine to drive, as Samurai Goroh now held the Red Dove. Fortunately, Seppuku knew just where to find Goroh. Stealing the Red Dove from Goroh and Guster would be difficult, especially since they were guarded by a gang of pirates, but Seppuku wasn't about to let go of his legendary machine. As for the quest to stop Dark Million, Zoda now held the data disc. Was Seppuku's decision to let the person who sold the Red Dove leave with their only possible lead on Black Shadow a good one? Team Seppuku would know in two days…
To be continued…
