==Lap 34=

A day later, Chiya stood before Seppuku's office, it was now the evening as she had slept in with her new cat, Mauser. She now had the desire to look into Seppuku's plan again, this time with much more attention; above all, a retraction of her agreement to be a damsel had to occur. Chiya had already been held captive by her enemies several times before, this was a position in the mission she would decline without hesitation.

Wow, he's going to be so annoyed with me for taking back what I said… After taking one brave exhale, Chiya opened the door and found Seppuku just as he was grabbing his rifle; she had forgotten, it was that time of the night where Seppuku would take to the street in search of crime—a hunt.

The Man of Darkness expressed legitimate surprise upon spotting the nervous girl, "What a surprise. You're usually messing around in your room this time of the night." He shook his head while chuckling, "Presumably, with Bendek grasping your shoulders all night long..."

Chiya dismissed the sexual joke and breathed in, prepared for a lecture, "I know you're going to be mad, so I'm just going to come out with it..." And with only this said, Seppuku clenched his fists in anger. "I wasn't, quite, paying attention to your plan before. I didn't know what I was agreeing to and I certainly don't want to be a fishing lure in your plan."

"Of course, I should have known that you had your head in the clouds."

Actually, I had an angry cat clawing me up… Seppuku still had no idea of Mauser's existence in the organization, meaning she would need to continue on with her original story of being sick during his plan.

"No, I was sick yesterday, I could barely stand up straight."

"That's not what Bendek told me…"

Chiya gasped and glared, "Oh really? And just what did Earl tell you, exactly?"

The man shook his fist up with barred teeth, "He told me that you were doing your little 'girl stuff'!"

The girl quirked her mouth, "Uh... Yeah okay, I was drawing in my room…"

"Typical."

Chiya rolled her eyes, "So, I still want to help make these gangs bugger off. What other role can I play in this plan?"

Seppuku crossed his arms, "For one, leave your stupid play things behind so you don't get distracted. No drawings, no comics; got it?" A glare was received, but the man did not regard it. "Secondly, keep away from Bendek while we're sniping; he's nothing but a distraction."

"Yes, sir…"

The Man of Darkness nodded and held up his rifle, ready to leave for his hunt, "That loser talks to every girl he can, but never wants to hit the bed. All he's good for is fixing machines, which he now slacks off in doing."

Chiya stomped her foot down, offended by his second remark, "Shut up, Seppuku. You owe him so much more than you think."

"He fixes my machine; any high school auto shop runt can do that."

"F-Zero racers have crews that tend to their machines; Earl is one person who gets the job done really fast."

A chuckle was returned, "Please, if anything he owes me."

Chiya gasped with a heavier glare, "How the Hell does he owe you?" Seppuku dipped his head and smirked in a bid to try and frustrate her, "Answer the bloody question!"

"He's just like you," he answered. Chiya grunted and tilted her head in awe at his answer. "He also has a dark past; I don't know your story, but he's in no better state than you."

Chiya changed her angry expression into an intrigued one, "What could he have done that's on par with my past?"

Seppuku leaned against his desk, willing to set off his hunt for a few minutes, "In due time. If I told you, he would probably quit," Chiya lowered her eyebrows in fear, Seppuku was finding some kind of thrill from this conversation, "I can read his face; he wants you to respect and look up to him. He needs you to respect him. But the fact remains; if you knew Earl Bendek like I do, you wouldn't find him so great. So, no; I'm going to work off of his past and continue blackmailing him."

Chiya couldn't believe what she was hearing; this was one of the cruelest things she had ever heard come out of Seppuku's mouth. She shook her head in disbelief, unable to comprehend what Earl may have done that was so bad and how Seppuku got hold of this information.

"He belongs to me, Flower. What you don't know is what keeps him sane; he'll do whatever it takes to keep you from figuring him out, and that's why I know he'll kiss my feet to the very end..." Seppuku concluded with a grin.

The Mysterian floored her foot in constant motion, "You're exaggerating!"

"That's right, Flower. Keep sucking on Earl's big lie. But in the end, that's all you'll ever keep doing—sucking with no chance of a climax."

She turned towards the door with an immediate desire for answers from the man who's words mattered most, "Yeah? Well... Let's see what Earl has to say about all of this..!"

"He's in the Upper City right now."

Chiya came to a stop right after grabbing the doorknob, "I've never had coffee this late at night before, but the Falcon House would make a good place-"

"Idiot, he's with his girlfriend, on a date."

With wide eyes and an open mouth, Chiya jolted her head up and turned back around, "Girlfriend..?"

"The guy doesn't have time to work on my machine, but apparently he has time for sexless dates." Chiya stood without motion, he was being given a dumbstruck stare. "He met her while on the way to Aeropolis, from what I understand."

Chiya's eyes went many places before becoming solid on a wall. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her and motioned her with a hand.

"Hello—o..? What the Hell are you staring at?"

She looked up at him and swallowed, "I need to save him…"

"Uh, what?"

"She must be with Red Star or the Bloody Chain…" The girl smacked her hands together, "...or Dark Million..."

Seppuku began to chuckle, "What the Hell are you on about?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes, "She's probably a spy or an assassin trying to collect info on us." At first Seppuku was certain that she may be joking, but could now see that she was saying this with all seriousness, "I know for a fact this girl is up to something…"

"Flower, she's just a woman—like you."

"Exactly!" She flapped her arms in a frenzy. "I'm full of surprises, meaning she must be as well!"

"You're going to need more evidence than that."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and put on a small frown, "W- What's her name?"

Seppuku tapped his chin a few times and shrugged, "Maggie, or something…"

Chiya pouted and crossed her arms, "Maggie, that's a dumb name…"

The lieutenant remained still scratching his chin, Chiya had dipped her head down while still pouting. It only took the man a few more moments to realize what was going on. Rather than comforting Chiya, he did the complete opposite.

"Yeah, if she and Earl kick it off I'll have to add her to the organization," Chiya responded by gasping, "Two guys, two girls; sounds like a real dream team..."

"T- There's not enough room for a fourth person…" she commented.

"On the contrary, we can always move things around. I'd move you into Bendek's room and let those two sleep in your room." The man chuckled and shook his head, "How awkward, though. You'd probably have to deal with the sounds of those two getting intimate every now and then... Just Earl and Maggie; and poor little Chiya sitting alone in her room..."

Chiya's right eye began to twitch; it was only logical for her to retreat from the office with a distraught state of mind. Seppuku's words were cold, harsh, and very unnecessary—but he believed it to be fair play since she sided with Earl against him in so many conflicts.

Once the door closed, Chiya grasped her forehead with a quivering lip. Silenced by Seppuku's comments, the girl was lost staring at the ground. But I don't want Maggie to join the group… She continued down the hallway and made a quick retreat into her room. Alone and without a word to say, this was how Chiya wanted things to be for the moment.

Once in her room, she leapt into bed in frustration. The very first thing the girl did was grab onto her knees and curl up by her pillow moaning. Mauser leapt up onto the bed and approached her head, intrigued by Chiya's erratic entrance. It was there that the Mysterian remained laying, moaning, and muttering hateful terms aloud to herself. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was crushed and defeated without a chance to fight back.

"Mauser, what should I do if I'm ninety-five percent sure that this one girl Earl's with is actually a gang member in disguise?" The small cat remained still staring at her, not about to speak her language. Chiya sighed, "Right, you're just a cat..."

Meanwhile in the Upper City; Earl sat within a common restaurant and was facing a black-haired girl of clear Chinese roots. The restaurant was more so for middle class citizens, which for someone of Earl's income could be compared to an expensive restaurant. As for Maggie, Earl needn't inform her of his low income; as a snake of romance, he only planned on sticking around Maggie until he could lock lips with her—then he'd jet. It was a dirty and immoral hobby of his, and his only excuse was that despite how very rude this hobby of his was, at least he wasn't trying for sex. Be that as it may, just about anyone could still disagree with Earl's apparent justification.

Maggie wiggled her fingers around and smiled, "I'm so glad we could hook up again."

The Korean nodded with a faked grin, "For sure, I'd be lying if I said I've been on many dates before, though. So let's make this the best date ever, yeah?"

The girl turned her head with a suggestive brow, "Oh, are you saying we should..?"

Earl's grin became larger, "I've got a tight schedule and can't fool around. But how about we make our date, here, something to remember."

Maggie snapped her fingers, "Ah, okay!" She winked at him, "You mean, chow down and pig out, right?"

"Uh..." Earl let out a chuckle, "Well, I certainly don't want to drain you of your wallet..."

The girl's eyes widened at the mentioning of her wallet, "Oh, shoot. That reminds me..." She beamed at him and shrugged, "Could you pay for the food?"

Earl widened his eyes, "Wha- Weren't we Going Dutch?"

"Yeah, well, I forgot my purse at home, so..." Earl closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "But it's like you said, we should make this a night to remember, yeah?"

The man sighed a second time, "I guess I can pay for everything..."

This revelation damaged Earl's mood to a fair extent; the other part of his typical girl hunt is that he seeks those who can pay for their part of the date. I've never had anyone ask me to pay for them before... The man picked up his menu and began looking for something to eat, Maggie did so as well. Awkward silence now divided the two as they sought out a meal; of course, Earl was going to penny pinch to avoid losing all his money.

The waitress not much later showed up at their table and asked, "Order when you're ready."

Earl sighed yet again and scratched his thin beard, "Glass of water, a cut of sirloin- no, uh; chicken breast, and some fries."

"Very good, sir. And you?"

Maggie puckered her lips and nodded, "Yeah, okay. I'll have some orange juice, slice of prime rib," Earl widened his eyes and grunted, "Large fries, a patty with caviar," next he beat on his chest and cringed. "Um, ma—aybe- yeah, some lobster eggs, two frosted bagels-"

Earl dropped his menu and began to twitch, "C- Could you perhaps reconsider and just have some sushi, instead?"

Maggie snapped her fingers, "Oh, right. And I'll have some sushi."

"Very good, ma'am."

The Korean closed his eyes as though he could start weeping. He opened one eye and looked down at his wallet; to afford such a meal, he would need to spend almost everything he still had—including money reserved for groceries, beer, and garage parts. God damn, I didn't know that I would be having dinner with the Princess of Wales..!

With the two waiting for their meals, Maggie continued to give Earl a lovestruck face; he, however, was facing the repercussions of being a snake—very costly repercussions.

"You're really spoiling me, Earl..."

"Yes, I know..."

Later that night, Chiya emerged from her room and walked about the base with two hands in her pockets. The idea of having another female in Seppuku's organization bothered her to the point of great sorrow; she didn't want anyone to disrupt her relationship with Earl. The concept of being single, shy, and only in the back of Earl's head was beyond bothersome to the Mysterian; she didn't want to spend each day of her new life watching Maggie and Earl prosper in front of her.

If she comes, Earl won't wanna' talk to me anymore… More fears began to encircle her as she entered the lobby. What if she is more useful to Seppuku than I..?

She remained standing in the lobby with a quirked mouth; there was a disturbance within the base that of which put the girl in distress. That disturbance was what Chiya most feared nowadays and above all wished to have seen an end to. Silence and isolation—no life other than her own present in the base aside from her cat. Earl was in the Upper City, Seppuku out and about in the Lower City; Chiya could only recognize her own breathing—nothing more. To be alone again was what Chiya feared more than anything; and while Earl and Seppuku would only be gone for so long, there was the stirred up fear of Maggie causing Chiya to be cast out of the group. To be forgotten about, dismissed, and perhaps exiled back onto the streets—alone.

Soon, following many depressing thoughts; Chiya moved into the garage and approached the Purring Kitten. This was a rare moment, however, for she did not express joy toward her machine.

"The Purring Kitten is my dream; but..." She bent over and dropped her chin onto the machine's body, then sighed, "Is it really my biggest dream?"

F-Zero meant much to Chiya; but she soon came to realize over the course of working alongside her two friends that it might not be the only reason she desired to stay in Seppuku's organization. At first it was about the machine and money, now she was questionable as to whether her biggest aspirations had changed.

And so the woman fell to her knees and made a loud sigh, placing her hands flat down on the machine in the process, "I could watch F-Zero races with Earl for the rest of my life and stay happy; but I could never race without those two by my side..."

She closed her eyes and sat on the floor with a frown, now realizing how very important Earl and Seppuku were to her. An F-Zero machine and shot at the Grand Prix were insignificant next to the power Earl and Seppuku had over her emotions. Sad and defeated, Chiya continued sitting beside the Purring Kitten alone and silent. The F-Zero machine meant everything to her; but only if she had Earl and Seppuku to enjoy it with. Of the two, she was longing for Earl to stay her friend—perhaps even more than a friend.

Earl chuckled at Maggie and raised his hands up, "And then when Chiya reached in to touch the running engine, I could make her squeal by revving it. She always does it, too; very funny."

"Mhm," Maggie responded. "I'm not sure why I decided to be a dentist instead of a hair stylist; I started off wanting to be a hair stylist, but ended up a dentist. Go figure."

The food on Earl's plate had been cleared, Maggie was finishing up her plates. As expected, the bill was not easy to look at for one of Earl's income; though he had no choice but to pay. Irregardless, Earl was having good conversations with Maggie; however, many were about Chiya of all people.

"A dentist, eh?" He scratched his chin with a smirk, "Could you fix me up with free cleaning if I asked?"

The girl shook her head, "Nope, you have to pay."

"Come to think of it, Chiya's got the brightest teeth I've ever seen..." Maggie rolled her eyes aside and nodded. "She came from the homeless streets, I have to wonder how she kept her teeth so clean during those days when she couldn't keep the rest of her body clean."

Maggie sent him an almost irritated smirk, "So, this Chiya had a disgusting appearance when you met her, then?" Earl blinked without much emotion. "She looked unfitting for the girl role? Smelled bad?"

"Well, sure; but Chiya just has that unmatched beauty that can withstand dirt. She gets that benefit of looking good even with bad hygiene."

A few moments of silence ensued before Maggie half smiled and raised a finger, "Have you ever been to the mall? New music emporium being installed there; I hear you can create remixes of any song you'd like and buy them there."

"Really? That's awesome!"

She nodded, "But overall it'll be a great place to just hang out with friends, you know?"

Earl hummed with great interest, "I might need to check that place out soon. Seppuku doesn't like music, but I could take Chiya; she likes Japanese music, or at least I-"

"You know..." Maggie closed her eyes in frustration, "No offense, but you sound like you'd rather be on a date with Chiya right now, not me."

Earl's eyes widened in response, "Huh? Me?" He swallowed and bit his lip, "Chiya and I?"

To his surprise, Maggie stood up and grabbed her purse from under the seat, "I'm looking for a relationship; a future partner. I'd rather not risk seeing Chiya in our bed one day, no offense." The Korean grunted in response to this as well, but was speechless. "You're a great guy, Earl; but you've been talking about this Chiya girl from the moment we got here. If you like the girl so much, why don't you go home and do stuff with her?"

With this said, Maggie put the purse over her shoulder and walked away. There Earl remained with a dropped chin and loose mind. Getting dumped on a date was a rarity for the man, thus leading him to worry if Chiya's presence in the organization was now conflicting with his game of snaking around for women. Nonetheless, Earl did not think of Chiya in a negative light; he in fact thought the opposite.

With a grin, the man nodded and looked up, "Hey, yeah; Chiya's my best friend and can offer a lot. I should go watch TV with her or something."

Before leaving, he dug out the appropriate amount of money to pay off the food, minus a tip because of how much he was already losing. After tossing the credits down on the table, the man grunted and glared.

"Wait a minute..." He stomped his foot down and complained, "Maggie did have her purse!"

Earl was on the move to get home and spend time with Chiya, but he was too late; she was already walking down the streets of the Lower City without a location in mind. She looked up at the unfamiliar dark sky and hummed; walking outside at night was something Chiya refrained from doing since that fateful night she met Seppuku. Mute City had a magnificent appearance at night even in the Lower City; the sky was somewhat illuminated due to the millions of Upper City lights.

Chiya looked at her broken hand and sighed, "I still can't believe I signed up for this job…"

The Mysterian continued down the sidewalk with a broken face; much like the base, there was not a sound to be heard. One sad thought linked to another sad thought in an endless loop; all it took was for Earl to go on a date with someone to break her.

She passed through an intersection and took a turn for the street containing Rough Odds. It was upon turning, however, that Chiya had been stopped.

"Flower."

Chiya stood still but did not turn her head, Lieutenant Seppuku was gazing at her from the road. His rifle was situated in his grasp and an irritated look upon his face.

The girl turned to face him, "I didn't think I'd see you out here."

"I'm the one who should be saying that." The man lowered his rifle and questioned, "What the Hell are you doing out here? You of all people should know that the Lower City is especially dangerous at night."

Chiya's face conveyed an understanding of this point, but at the same time a somewhat challenging look. Nevertheless, she wasn't afraid to speak her true thoughts aloud.

"Seppuku, I need to talk to you."

Little did the two know, atop a building sprinted several Red Star gangsters. Rooftop to rooftop the gangsters jumped with their weapons. One of the gangsters came equipped with an outdated sniper rifle.

Chiya walked over to Seppuku with a face seeking answers, the man nodded and soon responded, "Talk about what? Why are you out here?"

The two convened in the center of the street, Seppuku towered over Chiya in height—yet she did not shy away. "If Maggie comes to live with us, I don't want to be kicked out, Seppuku. It's not fair that I should be evicted back onto the streets just because Maggie is Earl's girlfriend."

"Who said you're getting kicked out?"

Chiya crossed her arms, "It's expensive housing a human, I understand that. But I care about you two... a little more than I do my F-Zero dreams, admittedly." After saying this, Chiya's mind became disorganized, and thus her next words were sudden and random. "I especially hate the thought of Maggie being with Earl; it makes me sad for some reason..."

The Red Star gangsters came to a stop on the roof and got down on their knees. The sniper began setting up his weapon while the allies kept watch of Chiya and Seppuku.

Seppuku groaned and flapped his arms, "God dammit, Flower. Maggie's not going to move in with us..."

Chiya gulped, "So, Earl's going to leave us?"

"No, Flower; listen..." He folded his arms and sighed, "I was poking your head earlier today; you know, messing around with your emotions. Earl is a guy who goes on a lot of dates—as a sport."

"Huh? He still does that?"

"He always has. The man will go for a kiss and never talk to the girl again. He's never let a relationship go past one date; as a matter of fact, you're the only girl he's ever shown actual care for."

The Mysterian placed a finger below her lip and put on a puppy face, "I am?"

The sniper got on one knee and looked through the scope, he was eyeing both Seppuku and Chiya, able to snipe either off in one quick and unprecedented moment. The issue was picking who to snipe: Seppuku, a strong and fearsome third party warrior in the gang war; or Chiya Flower, whom had destroyed many hover bikes and humiliated the chain of command. Through careful thinking, the sniper trained himself on Seppuku.

Seppuku patted Chiya on the back, "Earl's fonder of you than he has any girl... or guy, for that matter. I, personally, don't see why you like him so much; unless he's drunk, Bendek's a real drag. But if you really do care for him, he'll probably be home soon."

Chiya smiled in relief; meanwhile, the Red Star sniper prepared to take a shot off at the back of Seppuku's head. Before anyone could take an action of any sort, surprise had been enlisted by both parties as a buzzing sound could be heard coming from the intersection.

Both grunted and looked toward the intersection, far up the street were three Red Star hover bikes and two Bloody Chain machines. The vehicles were combating each other, even though neither had combat modules.

Seppuku raised his rifle and knelt down, "Flower, we've got company!"

At that same moment a bullet had been fired from the sniper, which chipped Seppuku in the shoulder. The man made a loud grunt and did a twirl; with a miraculous shot, he took out the sniper. The wound Seppuku received was very minor.

Chiya pulled out her gun and twirled her way over to a streetlight in desperation for cover; bullets rained down from the rooftop, but only two gangsters were firing at Chiya. Seppuku placed himself behind a streetlight as well and returned fire. The sight of bright bullets bouncing off the ground installed great fear into the Mysterian; the fear reduced her accuracy to a significant extent.

Meanwhile, the oncoming gang vehicles continued to clash while making their way to the fight; some of the Bloody Chain machines were taking shots from the rooftop goons. The Red Star bikers had fast vehicles, but couldn't make use of ramming since they were bikes-a major drawback. Red Star gangsters could wield assault rifles while driving, the obvious perk of riding a bike.

Seppuku bolted away from the streetlight and took a shot up toward the roof; his bullet ravaged the receiver, thus causing the soldier to fall off the roof dead. Just after doing this, the Man of Darkness spun around and dropped to his knees.

Almost void of fear, the man brought his rifle up with a solid hold and trained his iron sight on a Bloody Chain machine. He fired, thus sending an armor piercing round forward. The blazing bullet traveled across the street and made immediate contact with the cockpit of the machine; the mere bullet sent the window shattering and the driver incapacitated.

This hit caused a chain reaction, for the machine had driven in a zigzag, had two Red Star bikes crash into it, then ended up in a pile of machinery. A sole Bloody Chain machine escaped the predicament unharmed.

With less rooftop gangsters alive, Chiya knelt down and aimed at the pile of machines; she was under the presumption that there were survivors. Indeed, two Red Star bikers emerged from their wrecked bikes—both appeared disoriented and surprised. The two were fired upon in quick bursts, furthering the shock that both gangsters had. Regardless, both turned to return fire at Chiya.

The surviving Bloody Chain machine turned around and began driving toward the combat zone once more, the plan being to run over enemies of the Bloody Chain. Seppuku was prepared to deal with this, but didn't have to; one of the rooftop gangsters pulled up a rocket launcher and took aim at the oncoming machine. He fired the rocket, and with little effort on his part, the machine was sent ablaze and rocketed toward the crashed vehicles like a fireball.

Chiya was still in heated battle with the two bikers, one of which was soon picked off with a near-missed headshot. The other biker was put down by Seppuku with an easy shot to the gut. By now, this particular street was covered in flames, shells, blood, and wreckage.

The goon who had fired the rocket launcher stuck another rocket down the tube, then lifted the weapon upward. He couldn't spot Seppuku in time, however, and so a bullet came driving at him. The armor piercing bullet penetrated through the rocket and hit the goon in the rocket pouch, thus causing a massive explosion. A part of the building they stood upon collapsed due to the explosion, only Chiya panicked at the sight of this.

The tides were now established, Chiya and Seppuku continued their fight with the rooftop gangsters; with Seppuku's accuracy, one could argue that this was now a lopsided fight. On the other hand, Chiya was forced to fight with her non-dominant hand.

An exchange of fire remained intense and wouldn't stop, but the first bad hit of this engagement had soon occurred.

In a moment of shock and awe, Chiya suddenly found herself feeling staked through the gut; a stray bullet managed to find its way to her torso. Likewise, a gangster was shot and fell from the rooftop. Seppuku continued firing, but soon took note of Chiya's lack of shots. He twirled to avoid getting hit and took a second shot, again killing a gangster. It was then that he turned his head and grunted.

Chiya stood with trembling legs while holding her stomach, her gun was down by her waist as she coped with an extreme level of pain. Then, to make matters far worse, Chiya was knocked clean to the ground with yet another shot to the stomach. With a beyond shocked expression, Seppuku turned his body and turned off his caution; he blew the remaining two gangster apart like mere targets.

Killing the final two men brought silence to the battlefield, two raging fires engulfed around them from the vehicles and rooftop. The man gritted his teeth and made a quick turn, Chiya was laying motionless and with a soaked belly.

"Damn!"

Chiya remained on her rear with quivering eyes, she was left rubbing her forehead as a deafening ring continued to sound in her head. In this state, she could hardly comprehend that she had been shot twice. Her eyes remained solid on the blazing fire ahead of her, watching as each flame raised up into the air before disappearing. The next thing she knew Seppuku was in front of her waving his hand.

"Flower, Flower!" She was for the most part unresponsive, an immediate sweat began to build up on Seppuku's forehead. "Dammit, don't do anything stupid, Flower! You've got a lot to live for!"

She barred her teeth slowly and moved her broken hand up to her face; she was startled to find that her bandaged hand was blood soaked. In a confused state, she slapped the side of the signaling device with what breath she still had. Seppuku received the distress call, but dismissed it. It was while staring into the haunting visor of Lieutenant Seppuku that she was faced with complete darkness—as though his visor had devoured her.

Her eyes closed. No one came out of the battle victorious. Once again, a simple walk through Mute City at night turned into complete disaster—only this time she hadn't gotten so lucky.

Soon, Chiya opened her eyes a light bit; only slits of her eyes were visible. Next her eyes widened in complete shock at what she was witnessing. A river of chocolate was ahead of her as she stood in a field of sunflowers, the temperature was cool. The girl stepped back in horror and gasped at her clothing, she was wearing her usual attire, only her shirt and shorts were white. Pulled off her beanie hat revealed white fabric as well.

"What the heck is this!?"

She looked up at the sky and grunted with a disturbed expression, the clouds were shaped like cats. One thing had become clear to her on the instant—she was not on Earth anymore, this much was clear to her. She was trembling while observing the obscure world. With a raised brow, she lifted her shirt up and found an unscratched belly.

"I- I'm dead…" she muttered in disbelief. "Or… am I in Canada..?"

Just as she began to grasp what was going on, a young gray cat approached her from a field of roses, the cat was easy to recognize as Mauser. Chiya gasped at the sight of Mauser, unsure of what to make of the situation. Despite the shock of his presence, the Mysterian exhaled in relief to see a familiar face.

"Well, if Mauser is here, maybe I'll find my friends..."

"Not quite, you have to wait until they die as well," said Mauser.

Chiya jumped back and shouted, "Blimey! What the Hell!?"

Mauser licked his paw and spoke, "No, you certainly didn't go there. This is the good place!"

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed; to her this confirmed that she had died, "Mauser, why are you here? You didn't die…"

The cat rolled on his back and answered, "I'm not the real Mauser, simply a figure constructed by your childish desire for a talking animal companion. As a matter of fact, this whole world is built based off of your dreams and desires! Isn't that lovely?"

"I don't wanna' be here! I want to go home!" she cried.

"Yo- You- wait..." The cat appeared very puzzled, "You would rather live in that Lower City dump in Mute City surrounded by criminals, rather than this paradise?"

Chiya tapped a finger over her lip, then widened her eyes and blinked a few times upon realizing that her right hand was no longer broken. She wiggled her fingers around and frowned.

"This place is nice, but I wouldn't want to spend an eternity here; not without people I care about."

Mauser whipped his tail back and forth, "You don't get the full package right away since you failed to complete your life goal—your purpose in life…" Chiya remained still blinking at him; she was most intrigued by the mentioning of a 'full package'. "If you had completed the life task you established, you would have gotten immediate control over your world that allows you to do whatever you want. Since you did not, you must reside in a pre-designed paradise until your intended year of death is reached. And let me tell you, Chiya, you were meant to survive many more decades."

Chiya growled at the replicated Mauser, "That isn't fair! I didn't mean to die in that fight!"

"Well you didn't-" the cat whipped his head around and discontinued his sentence, Chiya narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not really dead, am I?"

"Technically, no. It was decided that your body was too damaged to just let you live, so you were shut off and brought up here early."

Chiya stomped her foot down in a tantrum, "No, no, no! I still have so much to do!"

The cat hissed, "You can go beg for a second chance, but even if you're allowed back down, what's the point? Your body was so torn up by bullets you would probably need to be taken care of by a machine the rest of your life."

"I'll take my chances…"

The cat shook in disapproval, then turned towards a cave, "Well, first you must find your way out of here. The beginning of your quest is in that cave."

"Excellent."

She began her walk to the cave; moments into her walk she took note of Mauser's sudden disappearance. This was something to be suspicious of, but she continued walking nonetheless. Chiya was in all actuality amazed by her surroundings, everything was perfect for her; though as Mauser had told her, she failed to fulfill her meaning in life and was thus not given control over her paradise. This is so obscure…

The cave appeared to have something shiny inside; Chiya could only guess what it might be considering everything in this world was based on her dreams and desires. She took one step inside the cave before several lights began to flare; this revealed a garage mimicking the one in Seppuku's base. The true interesting aspect of this reveal was not the garage, however; but rather the shiny object. Chiya was gazing at the legendary Blue Falcon.

Chiya gasped and ran up to it; her initial reaction was to rub her hands against the shiny blue machine. The girl trembled in amazement at the legendary machine that so many aspired to be in the mere presence of—Chiya was granted the opportunity to drive it. Mauser made his return and leapt up onto the machine.

"Stay here, and this can all be yours…"

Chiya put her hands off of the machine and narrowed her eyes in frustration, "No."

"Come o—on…" Chiya crossed her arms and refused to acknowledge him. "How about I give you a look to go with the machine?" The cat suddenly transformed Chiya's clothes into that of Captain Falcon's, even her beanie hat into the red Falcon helmet.

Chiya gritted her teeth and began to panic, "Oh God! C- Change me back! Change me back!"

The cat did as instructed and turned her back to normal, this time she found herself wearing her normal colors. Chiya looked back at the Blue Falcon and opened its cockpit without regarding the cat. Chiya strapped herself into the chair and powered on the machine, something about riding the Blue Falcon felt very right to her. Mauser leapt up to the cockpit before Chiya closed it, hoping to persuade her yet.

Just before she could close the cockpit, her breasts began to grow by the second.

"What the Hell!?"

"Don't you want bigger boob-"

"No! Th- They're big enough as they are!"

Mauser closed his eyes and nodded; he whipped his tail and brought her breasts back to normal. Chiya now had a pestered look on her face and swished her hand at the cat, requesting that it leaves.

The cat rolled his eyes, "Alright, fine. All I'm saying is that you're going to need a really persuasive argument to get a second chance, considering you were shot two times with only Earl and Seppuku there to help you…" Chiya raised an eyebrow at the cat, "It's just, it will look strange if you somehow survive such a tragedy. Your friends will probably think that you're some kind of monster zombie…"

Chiya shook her head, "Me, a monster?" A sarcastic chuckle was given, "No offense, but... you're a talking cat."

Mauser stood still, but soon leapt off the hood of the machine. Chiya closed the cockpit and drove out of the cave; she had no idea where to go. Chiya was a girl lost in her own paradise, but her desire to see Earl and Seppuku again would keep her going…

To be continued!