==Lap 34=
Aero Dive-one of the newer tracks to Port Town. This track offered an almost unreasonable amount of small jumps, contained one massive jump, arguably too many boost pads, several sharp turns, and only one restoration pad. Compared to the Port Town tracks used in past races, this one was fairly disliked by the racers. Since the track only had one restoration pad, combat was very risky. The key to winning on Aero Dive was to assert all energy to boosting, losing energy from vehicular impact made falling behind almost inevitable. If one were to lose all of their energy before reaching the restoration pad, they are undoubtedly smoked. Unfortunately for Chiya, Bart wasn't around to warn her about being conservative on her energy. With no prior knowledge on the length of the track, Chiya would need to take a wild guess on the topic of energy conservation.
All racers had been told to start their engines, Seppuku had barely made it back to his machine on time, on the account that he was talking to Jody for so long. Regardless of this early foul up, all racers now had their engines on and their eyes on the prize.
Chiya wrapped her fingers around the wheel sternly and narrowed her eyes. She was gazing up at the starting line, understanding that she had to represent the true power of a fired up Mysterian. She quirked her mouth and hummed.
"Oh, and Earl. Captain Falcon says that he's going to give you a raise if you continue working in his garage."
Earl immediately glanced down at the Blue Falcon, he raised his eyebrows and nodded to himself, "Wow," he squinted and barely made out the image of Captain Falcon sitting still in his machine, "Wow…" he repeated silently.
The starting monitors lowered down and were displaying the number '3'. Chiya gritted her teeth and nodded, "Alright, time to give everyone another show!"
Earl quickly whipped his head towards the starting line, "Alright! Right away, fight for that boost pad in the center!"
Chiya very quickly looked down the track, there was a lone boost pad sitting in the middle of the track. This was another foolish addition to the track, as all racers would dive in to grab the boost pad. As a result, a massive pileup crash could occur. Since Chiya began in the front, she would need to race Mighty Gazelle and Princia Ramode for the pad.
At the last second, Chiya turned up her maximum speed, determined to get first grabs on the free boost. With this being done, Chiya gazed up at the starting monitors once again.
Three. Two. One. Go!
The second race of the annual Grand Prix had officially begun. Chiya and Princia both rushed past Mighty Gazelle at maximum speed, Gazelle was also passed by Captain Falcon and Lieutenant Seppuku. Chiya turned her head and viciously growled at her Magican rival.
"Dammit, she's copying me!"
"Move towards the center and show her who owns this track!"
Chiya closed her mouth and did as Earl instructed, Princia stayed to the far right of the track as Chiya took an early approach on the boost pad. Chiya and Princia instantly became the center of attention, only one would likely get the boost pad since they were going similar speeds while driving neck-and-neck. Seppuku and Captain Falcon were closely trailing the two, followed by Baba and Mighty Gazelle. Jody Summer and Blood Falcon were stuck within the crowd of racers.
The boost pad was right in front of them, Princia was showing signs of nervousness as she slowly veered to the left. Ultimately, all Chiya had to do was perform a spin attack if she got too close. Princia knew that such a strong hit could knock her off of the track, so she decided to play it safe and slide to the right again.
Chiya smirked proudly and hit the boost pad, her machine was quickly sent far away from Princia, who was now forced to watch several other racers boost past her. Seppuku and Captain Falcon both darted past her quickly. As Chiya, Seppuku, and Captain Falcon were in an F-Zero alliance together, Chiya felt safe knowing that she was surrounded by friends. This comforting thought was set aside, however, as the Fire Stingray momentarily appeared behind the Red Dove.
"Uh oh."
She turned her head back towards the center of the track and widened her eyes, she had arrived at some of the small jumps Earl had warned her about. She gritted her teeth and flipped open her airbrake switch, but then lowered her eyebrows after examining the height of the jumps. These jumps appeared somewhat dangerous, but not enough to damage her machine.
She flew off of the first jump and landed, then off of the next one, and then another one. Seppuku and Captain Falcon landed behind her, but Goroh was now in 2nd place. To make matters worse, Blood Falcon and Antonio Guster were now behind her companions. She gulped nervously, but was then sent into a state of shock as she flew off another small jump. Her body shook greatly as she went off another two jumps, each jump landing her roughly. Finally, the end of these jumps had arrived as she made one slightly larger jump, this time landing her onto an entirely different platform.
The racers were now driving around a massive curve, a boost pad was visible far ahead. Chiya turned her head and widened her eyes as the Fire Stingray came closer by the second. She glanced down at her speedometer and glared furiously, her machine was going as fast as it could, yet Goroh appeared to be gaining on her.
"Bloody Hell, Goroh must have upgraded his machine…"
"Is he acting hostile towards you?"
Chiya looked back, she was shocked to see that both Seppuku and Captain Falcon were in combat. Captain Falcon was dueling Blood Falcon, while Seppuku was dealing with Antonio Guster, while occasionally attacking Blood Falcon.
"No, but Guster's trying to hurt Seppuku…" she lowered her eyelids, "Well, or possibly vice versa…"
Because of the fighting that was going on, Jody, Rick, and Princia had caught up to the group. Jody and Rick seemed to be waiting for a moment to strike Seppuku or Blood Falcon. Given the fact that Seppuku was technically fighting a criminal, Jody was unwilling to attack Seppuku, as this would look bad on her account.
"Boost pad, coming up in about five seconds."
Chiya squinted forward, she could slightly see the yellow boost pad up ahead, "Ugh, I need laser eye surgery…"
"If you're gonna be an F-Zero racer, you should have good vision. Glasses or surgery."
Chiya drove into the boost pad, but was momentarily rammed into by Goroh, who had also hit the boost pad. She gasped and looked into her left mirror, she could easily see the fired up look of enragement on Goroh's face. Chiya didn't do anything damaging to Goroh, but her decision to side with Seppuku and turn on his alliance was enough to provoke hostile feelings into him.
"Alright, Goroh is an enemy!" she reported.
Goroh chuckled loudly and rammed into her rear once more, "Where you going Purring Kitten?" he scoffed loudly. He put his finger on the spin attack switch with the intention of shaving the rear of her machine, "I just wanna pet you!"
Chiya's head was forced forward violently as the Purring Kitten was then struck from the rear. The Fire Stingray had performed a spin attack that left Chiya in a bad position.
"B- bloody wanker!"
This spin attack stung some energy out of her machine, but fortunately, this was still the first lap, therefore energy wasn't very crucial to her. The attack had boosted her forward, and sent Goroh back into the other racers. She rubbed her forehead and looked down at her energy meter, Goroh had taken about 1/6 of her energy away.
She looked back at Captain Falcon and hummed ponderously as he fought Blood Falcon.
Seppuku was grinding his teeth constantly as he made constant mini attacks on Guster. The Green Panther was no match for the Red Dove, but he was staying attached to Seppuku nevertheless.
"Damn greedy pirate, get the Hell off of me already!"
Guster moved to the left slowly, then all at once, came rushing to the right followed by a side attack. Seppuku gasped and quickly side attacked to the right in an attempt to evade the attack. Ironically, Blood Falcon had just endured the exact same thing. The Red Dove and Hell Hawk slammed into each other on accident. Seppuku and Blood Falcon both turned towards each other with surprised looks of awe. Since both racers were pushed against each other, exchanging hostile glances is all that could be done.
Guster was about to slam himself into Seppuku, but just before he could attack Seppuku, an unlikely savior had arrived just in time. Seppuku turned his head and raised an eyebrow, the White Cat had suddenly flown in and side attacked the Green Panther. Guster's machine was severely punctured, but surprisingly still in a running condition. A gaping hole was now visible on the right side of the machine's body. Guster was now low on energy, so he backed away from the fray, fearing that even a restoration pad won't be able to fix the lost energy.
Seppuku smirked at Jody and chuckled, "Knew it, just couldn't resist-"
Jody had then rammed into him, which pinned him between her and Blood Falcon. Both Seppuku and Blood Falcon were irritated by this, even worse, Rick Wheeler was pinning Seppuku in from the rear. With racers on each side of his machine, Seppuku was forced to accept that he was out of options. A spin attack wouldn't work since he was being held by two machines. Surprisingly, neither Jody, Blood Falcon, nor Seppuku seemed keen on the idea of falling back. Seppuku, of course, couldn't fall back either way.
The racers were momentarily passed by Mighty Gazelle and Princia, this only made Seppuku more furious. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Purring Kitten lined up in front of the Hell Hawk and came to an abrupt change of pace, briefly going at a slow speed. Blood Falcon turned his head at the last second and gasped. The Hell Hawk ran into the rear of the Purring Kitten, forcing him to completely stop. Chiya was now behind all of these racers, but not by much.
Seppuku and Captain Falcon both grinned approvingly at Chiya's sacrifice. Despite being sent back, she was already nearly lined up with Seppuku and Captain Falcon. While this did free Seppuku, this also gave Jody and Rick a good opportunity to attack Seppuku.
Earl clapped his hands briefly, "I'll admire that brave move, but try and focus on the race. That crash caused Princia and Gazelle to assume the lead."
Chiya growled, "I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Princia-"
She interrupted herself with a gasp as she was suddenly faced with three boost pads. Nearly everyone was caught off guard by this, only Captain Falcon and Rick Wheeler were able to hit the boost pads, along with Chiya. Jody and Seppuku missed every boost pad and were left alone to fight. Chiya's eyes were shot open in shock, as she rarely went this fast. Without warning, she flew off of a steep ledge and was now diving far down towards another part of the track. Her eyes widened, she was quickly plummeting towards the track, but this was also a good opportunity to gain some ground. Much like parachuting, naturally, the last person to use their parachute would land first. As everyone was in the air, all Chiya needed to do was make amazing timing with the airbrakes.
She stuck her tongue out as she dived down at quick speed, she had already passed Rick Wheeler, but Captain Falcon had the exact same idea. Princia and Mighty Gazelle had already initiated their airbrakes and were about to land.
"Chi', you might want to turn on your airbrakes…"
"Hold on, I'll know when to activate it."
She was studying the Blue Falcon carefully, understanding that Captain Falcon was going to play the same risky game she was. Despite this famous racer being her ally and fantasy crush, she was determined to best him at this.
The two racers continued to plummet for a few more seconds, finally, about ¾ of the way down, Captain Falcon initiated his airbrakes and began to glide down. Chiya activated her airbrakes very shortly after he did. Both racers glided for a few seconds before hitting the ground. Chiya smirked, she was now in 3rd, with Gazelle leading the racers, and Princia trailing him. The Spark Moon was now closely in front of her.
"Superb work, Chiya. Now, get ready, because you're about to encounter several random mini jumps."
Chiya raised an eyebrow and looked forward. Before she could get an understanding of what was about to happen, the racers were forced to make several small jumps leading out for miles. Chiya grunted nearly every second, as every leap was small and harmless, but very rough. She looked down at her chest and grunted once more in embarrassment. Her breasts were constantly jumping up as she made each leap.
"I hope they can't see inside of my cockpit right now," she glared at her bouncing parts, "My girls are treating this like a child's bounce house!"
Jody and Seppuku were attempting to combat each other on the series of jumps, but was finding this nearly impossible. Rick had jumped in to assist Jody for a moment, but was soon preoccupied by Zoda.
Seppuku moved away from Jody and exhaled loudly, "Annoying as Hell…"
After a few more seconds of jumping, the racers reached a sharp turn. Chiya performed the turn excellently, despite having a heavy machine. Jody perfected the turn and put herself in front of Seppuku. Seppuku was becoming more infuriated at Jody. After having such an emotional pre-race talk with her, even one as disgusting as Seppuku was insulted that Jody still desired to have him killed. In the case of F-Zero, however, he was unable to comprehend why she felt that it was necessary to prevent him from winning.
Seppuku jolted his head up in shock upon hearing a light honking. He looked to his right and found Rick fighting Zoda, then to his left, where he found someone who brightened up his bad mood. Lily Flyer waved to him from his left, Seppuku returned the compliment by saluting her. He knew that Lily would never side with Jody and attack him, but this did raise the question of whether she would defend Seppuku through violent means.
Chiya rammed into the right rocket of the Spark Moon as they drove up a slope. She was growling passionately at her rival, but was soon turned away from her at the sight of a boost pad. Chiya gasped and seized the opportunity by performing a spin attack.
Princia shouted loudly in fury and glared as she struggled to keep control of her machine. Chiya only did this in order to get her hands on the boost pad. Yet again, Princia missed a boost pad, leaving Chiya in 2nd.
"Good, now, back to the same old scenario," said Earl.
Chiya nodded, "Gazelle."
The racers went up the slope and finally arrived at the restoration pad. Given the fact that Chiya had been attacked and ran herself into the Hell Hawk, she briefly ran into the strip to collect some energy. Because of this, she missed one of the two boost pads. Princia hit the first one and quickly came soaring towards Chiya once more, now getting neck-and-neck with her. Both Chiya and Princia were able to get the last boost pad, which took them right through the checkpoint, on to their second lap.
Boost power was now authorized. Surprisingly, Chiya was a bit hesitant to hit the booster, thus Princia was able to easily pass her. Chiya boosted after her immediately after, the two ladies were once again having a Cold War on the track as they challenged each other over the approaching boost pad. Out of the simple fear of losing her reach for 1st, Chiya boosted once more and dove into the center of the track. Princia assumed position behind her as both went through the boost pad at top speed. The usage of her boosters brought Chiya very close to the Red Gazelle.
"Get ready, you're coming up on those slight jumps again."
Chiya nodded to herself as the jumps came into sight, but this wasn't the only thing that came into sight. The Fire Stingray and Hell Hawk were trailing closely behind Princia. A loud gulp was forced out of Chiya upon seeing these two racers.
"Where the Hell is my protection!?" she glared and flew off of the first small jump, "Gazelle and Princia are practically enemies, so I'm surrounded by four baddies!"
"Well, Seppuku's busy doing the obvious…"
"Doing what!?"
Seppuku slammed his machine into the White Cat violently and hissed in anger, "Stupid bat, if you're not here to race for first place, why are you even here at all?" he challenged aloud.
The two racers pushed their machines together, ultimately, Jody was managing to push Seppuku to the side. Fortunately, Seppuku was freed from her grasp as they made their jumps as well. Jody ended up sliding underneath Seppuku was they jumped, and then a near catastrophe struck for Jody. The Red Dove landed on top of her machine, easily smashing the top of her cockpit.
"Oo-oh!" the announcer shouted.
Jody had her head ducked down and was now trembling in fright. Small fragments of her cockpit window fell onto her lap and hair, the Red Dove immediately fell off of her machine and proceeded forward. Jody turned her head up in shock, speechless, as the entire cockpit of the White Cat had been destroyed. The only reason she wasn't crushed was because of the fact that the metal support for the cockpit was so durable. Jody was speechless, but wasn't willing to give up. She did, however, back away from Seppuku; understanding that she was now much more vulnerable to his attacks.
Seppuku looked back and smirked at the sight of Jody, who was now easily visible without the tinted cockpit.
Chiya was boosting around the massive curving platform, Mighty Gazelle was nearly neck-and-neck with her at this point. At this point, Gazelle versus Chiya was becoming a fairly popular event, and it seemed to almost always be in the exact same situation; fighting for 1st place. Princia was desperately trying to keep up with Chiya, but neither Chiya nor Princia wanted to use their boosters again. Goroh and Blood Falcon were gaining on the group as well, but once again, Chiya was relieved of their unwanted presence. Captain Falcon made his way through the group of racers and successfully side attacked Blood Falcon, both machines went towards the wall of the platform. Goroh had been attacked by Seppuku, who was finally relieved of Jody's hostility for the moment. Jody and Lily were racing farther back behind the top six racers.
Gazelle, Chiya, and Princia all hit the boost pad that was in the center, sending the three away from the platform and down a longer part of the track. Chiya swerved around Gazelle's rear impatiently, searching for a moment to pass him. No matter what speed Chiya was going, it seemed that the Red Gazelle would always be ahead of her.
"I'm starting to understand why Gazelle is such a controversial racer…" she muttered angrily.
Samurai Goroh shouted loudly to himself while glaring upon the Red Dove, "That's my machine you're driving!" he loudly commented.
Seppuku grinned and side attacked the Fire Stingray successfully, the machine was sent against the safety railing, but not off of the track. Goroh then surprised Seppuku by attacking back with a side attack. Seppuku was yet again knocked into the Hell Hawk, but this time Blood Falcon struck Seppuku back towards Goroh. He gasped and turned his head towards Goroh, he had been struck again, going right back to Blood Falcon. Realizing that the two would likely play pinball with him, Seppuku performed a spin attack and struck both racers.
Blood Falcon quickly side attacked Captain Falcon, which left a bright silver mark on the left fin of his machine. He very briefly hit the brakes to put himself slightly behind the racers. Seppuku and Goroh continued to battle it out for a few moments, but Goroh had resorted to retreating as well after both Seppuku and Captain Falcon approached him.
Chiya finally boosted, bringing herself back in 1st place at last. Gazelle appeared provoked by this and boosted as well. Fortunately, Gazelle's boost had been blocked by Princia, who had suddenly rammed and bounced off of the cyborg's machine. Gazelle fell back into 3rd as a result.
Chiya and Princia ran into the three boost pads together, which sent them off the track and into the air. Chiya quickly aimed her machine down and began to dive, she narrowed her eyes challengingly before looking up at her Magican adversary.
"Now, Chiya, don't do anything silly. If Princia wants to play a dangerous game and keep her airbrakes off, just let her take the lead for a moment."
She rolled her eyes and snorted humorously, "Let Princia gain a lead on me? As if!"
A surprise was then pulled off by Chiya, she boosted while in midair. Princia briefly widened her eyes, but then did the same. Chiya momentarily initiated her airbrakes, allowing her machine to glide through the air while boosting. Unfortunately, Princia both boosted and turned her airbrakes on last, allowing her to soar past Chiya.
"Wanker."
The next thing she knew, the two racers were racing down the constant small jumps. Chiya growled softly at Princia as they bounced down for several miles. Her growl was momentarily directed to her chest.
"Dammit, boobies, stay still!"
Earl was caught slightly laughing at this, Chiya raised an eyebrow and hummed, "Just relax, no one knows that your chest is bouncing."
Chiya closed her eyes and nodded, "I wonder if anyone else is having this issue…"
Princia was holding onto her chest with a slightly infuriated expression, "This is annoying!" she complained aloud.
Seppuku, Lily, and Captain Falcon had momentarily merged together. While Lily wasn't an established member of their alliance, Seppuku was assuming that she was siding with them over Jody.
The three were bouncing down behind Mighty Gazelle, who was patiently waiting for an opportunity to reassume the lead. Seppuku studied the final jump carefully, wondering if her could use this to his advantage in any way. He raised an eyebrow at Gazelle and got a sudden smirk.
As the three reached the final platform, Seppuku pressed down on the boost button and went soaring off the final jump. This allowed him to glide at a fast speed, giving him a good opportunity to ram and bounce off of Mighty Gazelle. Only the first part of his plan worked, however, as he merely ended up slamming into the Red Gazelle roughly.
"Damn…"
The worst case scenario had then happened, Seppuku left his guard down for too long. The White Cat came boosting towards him at top speed, Jody narrowed her eyes at the Red Dove and continued towards his side. Seppuku turned his head at the last moment and gasped, the sharp left blade of the White Cat's body shined as she suddenly rammed it against the Red Dove's body. Seppuku cringed and gritted his teeth as Jody provoked his machine to screech loudly. The next thing he knew, Jody had passed him. Red paint chips flew off of her machine as she proceeded into 3rd.
Seppuku was immediately disturbed by the sight of red chipped paint, this was an obvious sign to him that Jody had greatly damaged his machine.
"That can't be good…" he looked down at his dashboard, a small icon depicting a combat module was now flashing red. Jody had successfully disabled his only defense, "Damn!"
Princia and Chiya turned around a corner and were now heading towards the slope leading to the checkpoint. Chiya looked back and widened her eyes at the sight of the White Cat. She could hardly keep herself from gasping at the sight of the demolished cockpit.
"Whoa! What happened to Jody's machine!?"
"Who do you think had the intention of hurting Jody?" Earl responded.
Chiya sighed and turned towards the center of the track once more, "I guess that means F-Zero diplomacy was a bust yet again…"
Jody's hair was flying wildly as she raced, the feeling of wind blowing across her face was relaxing to her, yet nerve-racking. Under most circumstances, having Jody closing in on Chiya was a bad thing. In this case, however, Jody considered Chiya someone of interest that she needed to protect.
Chiya and Princia hit the first boost pad, both entered the restoration pad. Jody entered the restoration pad as well, but since she had taken such a massive hit, she would need to collect as much energy as possible and disregard the two boost pads. Chiya sucked up all the energy she could take, then side attacked at the last second in order to grab the last boost pad. Unfortunately, Princia was one step ahead of the game and had already made her way past the checkpoint. Chiya narrowed her eyes and growled challengingly.
"It's on…"
Finally, the racers entered their final lap. With Princia in the lead, and Jody behind Chiya, it was inevitable that she would soon find herself caught in the middle of a violent war zone. Chiya boosted towards Princia shortly after going through the checkpoint, Princia did the same. Jody appeared fired up, but not as much as Chiya, who was finding the motivation to pick up her game for the final lap.
Seppuku was racing beside Mighty Gazelle, Lily and Captain Falcon were behind them both fighting off Blood Falcon. While Seppuku was still managing to keep an alright stance in the race, he was now without a combat module. The combat module was created for offensive attacks, but this was also a final line of defense for any F-Zero racer. The side attack could be used to quickly evade an obstacle, while the spin attack could be used to block a side attack. Seppuku was with neither capability, therefore, he was playing a risky game.
He and Mighty Gazelle ran over the first boost pad, ultimately, Gazelle's machine was boosted farther up the track. Seppuku looked forward and hummed nervously, Jody was still far ahead. From his angle, it appeared that Jody was now focusing on winning the race at last. If Jody would give up her spot in 3rd place and slow down to fight Seppuku, this would be a clear demonstration to just about anyone that Jody was without a doubt the aggressor.
The red combat module icon continued to flash constantly, Seppuku was hoping that this was a simple indication that the combat module had overheated, but he knew that this was impossible. The concept of a combat module overheating from over usage was plain silly. He slammed his fist down and growled immensely.
"Flower, you better land this race…"
Chiya and Princia were now swerving around each other, for once, trying to retire the other from the race. Chiya would side attack, but Princia would slow at the last second. Chiya would do the same. Instead of assuming the lead after the other racer slowed down, both ladies insisted on slowing down constantly in order to land an attack. Because of this, Jody had now passed them with Seppuku and Mighty Gazelle not far behind.
The two racers were soon brought apart as they entered the three jumps. Chiya glared at the Spark Moon and backed away from the fight as they made their leaps. Princia, however, was being overly aggressive and was still trying to attack Chiya. She's trying to attack me in midair? Good luck with that…
The two landed on the curving platform for the final time, Chiya was now in 2nd because of Princia's inept understanding of combat. Jody was leading the pack of racers without a problem, but her vision was slightly clouded because of the mighty gusts of wind that would blow into her eyes. Going nearly 1,000 km/h with an opened cockpit was a bad idea, especially if it was on a planet with particles in the air.
Chiya set her speed back up to maximum, but just at this moment, Seppuku and Mighty Gazelle passed the two, putting Chiya in 4th.
"Come on, Seppuku, smash one of those two up for me…" she muttered softly.
Chiya and Princia continued to race each other around the platform, but unfortunately, now came Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon, both boosting up the track. Surprisingly, Lily was following the two with the intention of fighting Blood Falcon. Chiya looked back and gulped nervously, despite crashing into the front of the Hell Hawk previously, the yellow paint of his machine appeared perfectly unscratched. She then turned towards Princia, who was coming up on her side. For whatever the reason, Chiya was now beginning to slip and let just about everyone pass her.
"Damn it all…"
Blood Falcon drove behind Chiya and Princia, Lily and Captain Falcon boxed him in from both sides, leaving only his rear and front open. Despite Chiya's intention to win, she decided to aid Captain Falcon once more by ramming into Princia, which blocked Blood Falcon's front. Blood Falcon growled loudly at this, once again finding that he was being denied any ground. Princia took this as a hostile action, but surprisingly, she didn't move from her position. She was enemies with both Chiya and Blood Falcon, but like any person with basic principles, she was willing to momentarily team up against the greater evil.
Blood Falcon flipped open a special switch in his machine, revealing a bright red button with yellow and black caution paint surrounding it. He smirked, revealing his sharp teeth as he chuckled.
Chiya was counting with her finger, then looked at the Spark Moon, trying to figure out who was ahead.
"I'm in-n, fourth place?"
It was at that moment that all Hell broke loose. The Hell Hawk performed a spin attack, but this spin attack was irregular. Just like in the first race, a massive spiraling blast of energy blew off of his machine as he spun. The Purring Kitten, Spark Moon, Blue Falcon, and Bunny Flash were all blown away by this sudden attack. Chiya gasped loudly, followed by a grunt, as she was slammed against the safety railing. Every racer that was blocking him now proceeded to grind against the safety rails, Princia was now in 4th place, but Blood Falcon boosted ahead and stole 4th from her. Princia was the first to react, as she immediately boosted after Blood Falcon. Chiya boosted after her, Lily and Captain Falcon worked to regain their position on the track after taking in such a strong attack.
The crowd was going out of control after seeing this, many of which were complaining that this wasn't a street legal adjustment made to his machine.
"Blood Falcon has just blasted his opponents away yet again with what appears to be a blast of energy!" the commentator shouted.
Earl was staring at the Purring Kitten on the TV screen in awe, Chiya didn't lose any energy from the blast, but she did from hitting the safety railing. He could see Chiya's statistics from a channel on the screen, which he could change to any racer at any time he wished. He switched the channel to the view on Blood Falcon, this is where Earl discovered something shocking.
"Chiya, that blast used up a major amount of Blood Falcon's energy."
Chiya was racing for her life at this point, she had gone most of the race in 1st or 2nd, but had now fallen all the way down to 6th. Princia had successfully passed Blood Falcon and was now in 4th once more.
"What do you mean?"
Earl rubbed his chin while studying the TV, "That attack, it consumed about one-fourth of his energy."
Chiya's eyes widened, "So there's a drawback to that little magic trick…"
"We'll have to keep that in mind, we very well could use that to our advantage in the future."
Chiya glanced down at her energy meter and lowered her eyebrows nervously. Bloody Hell, this track's too large to only have one restoration pad… She closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to keep her spirit from falling. The racers all lined up as they hit the three boost pads, Chiya tightened her grasp of the wheel and ran off the track optimistically. She quickly dived down and caught sight of the Hell Hawk, Princia was already catching up to Seppuku and Mighty Gazelle.
"Dammit, Princia's somehow gaining a big lead again…"
"Just hang in there, I would expect Jody and Seppuku to fight again. That'll probably bring up two positions."
Just as Earl had predicted, Jody landed roughly and bobbed her head up, but Seppuku accidentally landed a bit too close to her. She glanced back and glared at her rival, Mighty Gazelle nearly landed on top of the Red Dove. She immediately got in front of Seppuku's machine and began to spin attack threateningly. Seppuku gasped and turned away from her, now passing her and taking 1st. Naturally, Jody wasn't prepared to let Seppuku humiliate her yet again by winning, so she came sliding towards him quickly.
Seppuku grunted and desperately slid to the right of the track, "Damn, damn, damn, damn!"
Seppuku abruptly hit the brakes as Jody side attacked towards him, this caused her to crash into the safety railing. Jody's right blade had now been dented, she widened her eyes for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at Seppuku.
"What the Hell. Are you demonstrating the rare act of pacifism?" she asked aloud.
Seppuku and Jody quickly fell behind, , Princia, Chiya and Blood Falcon passed the two racers as they rushed towards the constant jumps. Chiya bit on her finger nervously, she was now in 4th, but was surrounded by dangerous foes. Blood Falcon was chasing after her, while Princia was simply trying to catch Mighty Gazelle. Of course, Chiya knew that Blood Falcon was the biggest danger to her. While Chiya considered herself just as good as Blood Falcon at racing, she greatly feared what other capabilities his upgraded machine had.
Chiya once again found herself simply leaping down for miles, as her enormous chest bounced. She sighed loudly with an irritated look. You'd think I'd be used to this by now, but I'm not…
Blood Falcon growled loudly and turned his head away as he bounced constantly, "…I'm going to kill whoever designed this track…"
Seppuku and Jody continued to bounce next to each other, neither of the two were bothering with each other; but Seppuku was unable to attack her either way. Jody turned her head and puckered her lips with a hostile look of amusement. She could slightly make out the sight of Seppuku as they bounced together, but he didn't seem to have the same hostile look she had become accustomed to. She slowly raised an eyebrow, suddenly pondering whether Seppuku was truly being sincere to her before the race had started.
She closed her eyes and shook the thought away, as she desired to simply finish the race. Seppuku continued to race nervously, understanding that Jody had clear superiority over him until his combat module could be fixed. This applied outside of the races too.
Chiya soon landed off of the jumps, the race was nearly over and she was just barely in 3rd. At this point, she was almost certain that she wouldn't be getting 1st, but perhaps 2nd at best. Without further hesitation, she pressed down on her booster. Chiya now greatly distanced herself from Blood Falcon, but was still a long shot from passing Mighty Gazelle, let alone Princia. Princia made a perfected sharp turn around the curve, then decided to boost. Mighty Gazelle turned his head in awe as Princia passed him, assuming 1st. He boosted as well, then Chiya once more in clear desperation for a late game victory.
Chiya narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth angrily, her machine began to flash red as she reached the brink of her energy. She was now coming up against Mighty Gazelle as the three reached the slope, Blood Falcon was gaining on the two at this point and could likely pass them if he so desired.
"Bring it you living trash bin!" she scoffed.
She was then surprised as Blood Falcon did just as she feared; he simply boosted past the two and assumed position in 2nd. Chiya widened her eyes and hit the boost pad going up the slope along with Mighty Gazelle. She remained optimistic to the very end, but despite her best effort, the race was practically over. She lowered her eyelids and sighed as she ran over the restoration pad. Whether she liked it or not, 4th place was going to be her finishing position.
The race had finished for those 4, with Seppuku, Jody, and the other racers coming in from behind. Princia won Port Town, but not the Mysterian-Magican F-Zero War.
In the end, it was Princia taking 1st; 2nd, Blood Falcon; 3rd, Mighty Gazelle; 4th, Chiya Flower; 5th, Jody Summer; and 6th, Lieutenant Seppuku.
Chiya groaned slightly and cracked her knuckles as she drove off the track back to her garage. While 4th place wasn't bad, she was greatly disappointed to have let two of her rivals top her in the race. Her failure to claim 1st wasn't very damaging to her overall ranking, but enough to put the F-Zero fans on the edge of their seats. Princia vs. Chiya, a closely contested rivalry in the overall rankings. Undoubtedly, this would soon become a fan favorite rivalry if Princia were to continue racing after this Grand Prix.
"Bloody Hell!"
Earl ducked quickly as Chiya threw a couch cushion across the living room of the ship, she was furious and being very open about it. Seppuku smirked at Chiya from the kitchen and clapped his hands.
"Good, Chiya, good. Unleash the fire flower within…"
Chiya whipped her head towards him with a heavy glare, "And where the Hell were you?"
Seppuku raised his eyebrows, then pointed at the Red Dove, "Dunno, where was I, Earl?" he smirked and shrugged, "One moment Jody swipes in and slashes my body, next thing I know, my combat module doesn't work."
"One problem at a time, Lieutenant," he calmly grasped Chiya's shoulder, she crossed her arms and pouted angrily in response, "Why are you so angry about not getting first? Fourth place works great with your current standing."
"Because, Princia took first…"
"More importantly, you let Blood Falcon take second!" added Seppuku.
"Yeah, well, Blood Falcon's still in an overall spot of fourth place with one-fifty-nine points. About twenty less than what Chiya has."
Chiya raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a bit relieved, "Where's Princia at?"
"Well, she is in first now, but only by six points."
Chiya narrowed her eyes once again, "Princia's becoming a real problem…"
Seppuku chuckled and walked over while clapping his hands, "In that case, you and I are on the same page."
"What are you getting on about, Seppuku?" asked Chiya.
Seppuku sat down on the edge of the couch while chuckling deviously, this was putting Earl on edge. He held onto Earl's shoulder and grinned.
"We didn't know where to find the Red Gazelle last year, that assault on Gazelle's ship was overall pretty pointless. Aside from the fact that I killed Skull."
"We killed Skull."
"And I crushed his skull," Seppuku concluded.
The room had briefly become silent, Chiya and Earl were both staring at Seppuku aimlessly. He rubbed his hands together and smirked once more, "But we do know where to find the Spark Moon…" Earl glared at him and shook negatively, already objecting to the plan, "Sure would be a shame if something were to happen to her luxurious machine before the third race…"
Chiya smiled devilishly and proceeded to chuckle evilly. Seppuku joined her, both laughed evilly while rubbing their hands together. Earl blinked a few times in amazement, feeling that he was the only sane person left on the ship. Not a single part of Earl was proposing that they sabotage Princia's machine.
"Chiya, come on. We can't do that to Princia…"
"Oh, I disagree…"
"You're only down by six points. If you can get first, second, or third, and keep Princia back next race, you'll likely be back in first place," Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly, "Last night you were just talking about your desire to become the model racer of F-Zero, well, what kind of model racer would sabotage a machine, just because that racer is upping you by a very small margin?"
Chiya sighed and nodded, "You're right. F-Zero isn't about cheating, it's about racing. Princia won this race fair and square…"
Seppuku growled and cracked his knuckles, "Don't listen to him, Flower! Being the model racer sucks, everyone just wants your autograph!"
A bright look quickly overtook her, she puckered her lips and clapped her hands, "Well, now that you say that, who cares if I lose the Grand Prix!"
Both Seppuku and Earl grunted, they looked at each other for a moment, ultimately, Earl grabbed her shoulder, "Well, we do still want to win the Grand Prix. But, hey, why not try to win the Grand Prix and become model racer?"
Chiya nodded with a smile, "There should be a supermodel racer title granted out."
Seppuku smirked and nodded, "There is, Mrs. Arrow holds that title," he then narrowed his eyebrows at Chiya, "But you'd need to drop the pail of ice cream before you ever plan on winning that!"
Chiya frowned and looked down at her crotch, she indeed had a pail full of vanilla ice cream between her legs. She stuck the spoon into her mouth and frowned, "I like to eat when I'm sad…"
"You eat when you're happy too!"
Earl cleared his throat loudly and waved his hands, "Alright, so, to sum things up. Chiya's doing good, Princia needs to be dealt with, and the Red Dove needs immediate repairs. Other than that, what's on the team agenda?"
Seppuku snapped his fingers, "Oh! Devil's Forest!" He clenched his fists excitedly, "If we find Black Shadow, I can nail Blood Falcon first. Imagine how easy the Grand Prix will be after that!"
Chiay faintly smiled, "That sure would make things easy. Captain Falcon would be free to help me at all times…" she blushed slightly and covered her lips, "Maybe he'd even give Earl a back massage as a reward…"
Earl and Chiya both smiled as they thought about this, but Earl momentarily shot open his eyes and grunted, "Wait, I don't-"
"So it's established then. We're heading for Devil's Forest to see what's in this bunker?"
Chiya nodded, "In three days, minimum."
Earl and Seppuku both raised their eyebrows, naturally, Seppuku was the first and only one to object to this, "Why three days?" he asked impatiently.
Chiya smiled and put her hand down on Earl's, "Because, in two days, is likely the greatest day of all…" she looked deep into Earl's eyes and lowered her eyelids, Earl puckered his lips and blinked at her a few times, "The one day, one year ago, where the magic all began…"
Earl continued to blink in confusion, unable to think of what this special day was. Chiya blinked her half closed eyes with a romantic smile, waiting for him to respond.
"U-uh…"
Seppuku suddenly grabbed Earl's shoulder, "Of course, Bendek has something special planned for the Flower-Bendek one year anniversary…"
Earl gasped and looked up at him for a moment, Seppuku smirked in a way that informed Earl that he owed him. Earl quickly smiled and looked Chiya in the eyes.
"Of course I'll have something for you. How could I ever forget the day that my favorite racer and friend, became my lover?"
Seppuku allowed for the two to continue looking each other in the eyes, he put his hands in how coat pockets and shrugged, "Well, alright. I guess we'll go to Devil's Forest after your anniversary."
Chiya returned to her ice cream and nodded, "This is going to be the best year ever, I swear…"
Seppuku continued down the hallway towards the bridge, he turned his head towards her for a moment with a bland expression. He slightly grinned and nodded respectfully at the two lovers before proceeding down the hallway.
The second race was over. Princia now led the Grand Prix in 1st, but not far behind was Chiya Flower, who was only down by a mere six points. With a heated up Grand Prix going on, progress being made on the hunt for Black Shadow, and the romantic Flower-Bendek anniversary coming up in two days, everyone was going to be busy with something.
Aside from the Grand Prix outcome, however, the biggest event by far was Jody and Seppuku's near cooperation with each other. Though Jody once again had the ambition to kill Seppuku, her view on the hunt for him had been greatly changed. For Jody Summer, it was nearly time to forgive or forget, or intensify her hunt; even if it meant getting creative…
To be continued…