==Lap 35=
Chiya was surrounded by softness, cuteness, kittens, and chocolate; she was living a dream. This was without a doubt the world on the other side, but she knew that her time had come too soon; she had no intention of staying for long. At this moment she was driving the Blue Falcon down a field towards a large replicated Mute City—only the cartoon-like sky added an unfitting touch to the large metropolis. Chiya was on a mission to find those in charge of this world; easier said than done.
A taken back Mysterian looked up at the feline-shaped clouds and raised an eyebrow, "This doesn't seem like the perfect world for me; more so, it looks designed for a drug addict…"
Most aspects of this world were indeed relevant to Chiya's interests, but things like the feline-shaped clouds seemed like an unnecessary addition to her dreamland. I wonder if a replica of our base is in this city… Her thought came to find that if there was a replica of Mauser, perhaps there would be of Seppuku and Earl as well. Despite it being very welcoming, Chiya was somewhat frightened of this world; no one living within this world were real, they were all beings created for the sole purpose of keeping Chiya happy for an eternity. The aspiring racer always dreamed of piloting the Blue Falcon, but she couldn't enjoy the moment knowing that there was still hope of surviving on the other side.
"I really hope Seppuku got me help…"
Meanwhile, on the other side, a watery-eyed Earl remained knelt next to Chiya's bed. The Mysterian now lay tucked into bed with a pleasant looking face; though she showed clear signs of life, it looked as though Chiya had already departed. She made little to no motion, only breathing—not even so much as a murmur.
"Oh, Chiya. Why couldn't I have been there to protect you..?"
The man brought his head down to the edge of her bed and dropped some tears. He wished so hard that Chiya would suddenly awake and greet him with happy words, but deep inside he had a horrid feeling that this was improbable.
Earl reached up and touched her body while rubbing his eyes with the other hand, "All I wanted was to come home and hang around with you some more, maybe talk in the garage or something; now I may never get that chance…"
Not much later, Earl had exited her room and stood between both his and her bedroom doors. It was here that he grasped his forehead and made a very strong sigh of distress. Despite the circumstances of how Chiya ended up in this situation, Earl was suffering from an all too common issue: He was beating and blaming himself. The thoughts circulating in his head were unsettling, disturbing, even dangerous; each thought came back to strangle him with the idea that he had allowed for Chiya to get hurt.
Very slow steps were taken into the man's own bedroom, he closed the door behind him and ventured over to his couch—where he collapsed and combed his hair back. There was no escaping the many images of Chiya Flower that rushed into his mind; to fail someone who defines 'innocence' was unbearable—to let that person die is unacceptable. Be that as it may, there was little Earl could do; he was a mechanic with basic skills in treatment. The unfortunate truth was that he lacked the knowledge needed to efficiently save people from dying. Earl was Chiya's only hope; any citizen of the Lower City knew that healthcare was impossible to acquire. No money and no job, no one who lived down here could enjoy hospital services—not even Seppuku and his companions.
Earl soon placed a Korean flag down on the floor—a red and gold flag, better known as the 'Joseon banner', which represented the new unified Korean nation. He looked upon the fabric with a sorrow-filled face, then in a moment of desperation, he raised up his old military handgun while trembling. In this moment, the man was without rationality and critical thinking; but he was also without hope and honor. With the mindset that he had failed Chiya, shooting himself over the Korean flag seemed only appropriate—to him. This procedure could best be compared to seppuku, or 'harakiri', in which the man takes his life in desperation to regain lost honor.
But alas, Earl could not go through with the procedure.
"God dammit…"
He tossed the gun across the room, which landed on his bed. Again, the Korean fell onto his couch and made a very loud groan of disgust. On one hand, he was disgusted by the fact that he would consider such an extreme course of action; on the other hand, he didn't feel content living on with a dead Chiya on his conscious. Life had taken a sudden and cruel turn for the worst, and while Earl refrained from killing himself—he had another negative method of escape.
With watery eyes, Earl crawled around on his couch after taking a beer into his hand. Like many individuals would under such stress, there was an urge to drink his problems away. In his mind, he needn't worry about the repercussions that could soon follow.
The metropolis looked just like Mute City, but the sky was the only imperfection for it had clouds in the shape of cats. She entered the Upper City right away and was starting to calm down to an extent. Chiya became more hopeful by the minute as she saw citizens of Mute City cheer her while driving the famous F-Zero machine; this was nothing new, however, as people were always excited to see Chiya drive the Purring Kitten in the real world.
"Insanity…"
Everything was much more colorful and advanced throughout the Upper City, thus making it hard to remember which streets led to Seppuku's base. I just know that my answers are in that base..! Chiya regretted not asking the cat as to where she could find the ones in charge; instead she was taking wild guesses. She turned near the Falcon House and looked back at it, she was considering the establishment as a place to enter, but had a feeling that the base was a better place to start her search. Having made the turn, Chiya now looked ahead toward the slope leading down into the Lower City. What she saw surprised her, however.
"Wh- What the…"
At first glance, the Lower City was a much cleaner and developed section of the metropolis. Still void of traffic, but much less of an eyesore, nonetheless. Chiya rushed down the slope wanting to see more of the Lower City. After reaching the end of the slope, what Chiya found was a well-maintained version of the Lower City with good infrastructure, decent buildings, and even some parked cars. Paying attention to the road was almost difficult, for every turn seemed to reveal something shocking to her, she only hoped that Seppuku's base hadn't been torn down in such a renovated part of Mute City. While she drove down the street coming up on the base, she felt something hit her lap; looking down revealed a box of cookies.
"Huh?" She looked around for the source of the cookies, but couldn't find any possible link to where it may have come from. "I wonder if I can get fat up here…"
She threw the thought off by shaking her head, trying not to be swayed by the amount of nice things the world had to offer. The cookies were thrown onto the floor of the Blue Falcon in frustration.
"I thank you for your gracious offering, but I value my friends back on Earth more than a box of cookies…"
"How about chocolate-coated cookies?" asked a voice.
Chiya widened her eyes and looked for the source of the voice; it was as if the voice had come from inside her head. She came to a hard stop in front of the hidden garage at the base.
"This is all great, but I don't want all of this; not for another fifty or sixty years?" she proposed.
No response was given to her request, she then felt a shock go through her spine upon looking at the base; she feared what it might contain. After getting out of her machine, Chiya grabbed a specific brick on the wall and pulled it upward, this was the secret lever to open the garage door from the outside. She began to bite on her finger, fearful of what the next moments would bring her. As soon as the door opened up in the slightest, she began to crawl under it wanting to get straight to the point.
Upon getting up she was relieved to see that everything was normal for the most part; tools and posters were in the same place, but the Red Dove and Earl's car were missing. This gave Chiya a feeling of doubt. Next, Chiya lowered her eyebrows in suspicion, something was indeed wrong. The garage appeared dirtier and contained more rust, as if the room had gotten older.
"What happened here?" she asked aloud.
"Keep looking around the base, try and figure it out…" the voice answered.
What seemed like mere minutes for Chiya was actually hours on the other side. Earl remained standing around in his bedroom with several cans of beer sitting up straight on the floor. Despite how many he had opened, many were unfinished. The man had gotten so intoxicated that he couldn't remember whether or not he finished his drinks.
A drunkard Korean was standing in a very unorthodox way—he was slouched beside his television set and was holding it for support in standing. As of this moment the man was not drinking, but the damaging effects of intoxication was evident just by the sleepy look on his face. Drinking his way out of bad feelings was what he believed to be the best course of action; the same could not be said, oddly enough, by the most irrational being of them all—Lieutenant Seppuku.
Without knowing, the lieutenant had slipped into the bedroom and was disgusted to find so many cans of open beer on the floor. He was especially annoyed to find a Korean flag yet again spread out on the floor; it wasn't an uncommon sight for Seppuku, but he hadn't seen this situation since Chiya arrived in the base for the first time.
"Bendek, for God's sake..."
The Korean smacked his lips and turned around with a struggle, "Wha- What are you doing in here?"
Seppuku reached down for an empty can and raised it up, "This is both pathetic and disgusting..." Earl lowered his eyelids before rolling his eyes. "Beer is meant for fun; not sobbing and whining."
"Pfft..." Earl swished his hand at the man, "Shut up, man..."
"I'm just pissed that you're doing this again. And you can only imagine how pissed I am to see your little suicide flag on the floor again."
Even more offense was taken by this, "That is a banner representing a rich culture... It wasn't designed for blood to be spilled on..."
"But that's why you have it on the floor, again."
Earl's stare became more dumbfounded and confused, but after sloppy thinking he nodded, "So what? It's my life, I'll do whatever I want with that life." His expression became even more agitated, "Suicide is necessary..."
"Suicide is idiotic."
"It is honorable!"
"It's an act of cowardice; at least in your situation."
After gulping, Earl dropped to his knees and proceeded to sit on the floor with a palm over his head. Seppuku crossed his arms with a displeased face. A silence ensued as the two took a moment to think. Given that Earl's mind was affected by the alcohol poisoning, Seppuku beat him in the race for a point to make.
"What happens to Flower needn't concern you; it's your life and you decided to go out on a date. It's Flower's fault for not fighting to keep you beside her. To claim that you failed to uphold your code of honor is false."
Earl opened his reddened eyes and growled, "I could have been here to protect her... I am obligated to protect my home, family, and-"
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard about your precious code in which you are a slave to," Seppuku swiped his hand aside. "Regardless, it's not your job to keep her from defying common sense. We live in a dangerous part of Mute City, she left on her own accord, therefore it is her fault she may die."
Earl grabbed his head the very moment Seppuku mentioned the possibility of her death, he shook wildly and made a loud hum. "N- No, no... no more death... I cannot allow any more innocent lives to vanish because of me..!"
The Korean was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and raised up into the air. Seppuku gazed deep into the drunkard's soul and gritted his teeth, "Idiot, didn't you hear me? This isn't your fault! You made a decision with unforeseen consequences; but above all, she made a decision only an idiot would make!" Seppuku tossed Earl about three meters and continued. "A young, blonde, big-chested, clean, virgin, soft, and beautiful girl should not go for a walk in the Lower City at night. That was an idiotic decision she made. Would things have played out differently had you decided to stay home? Yeah, but you didn't know this would or even could happen." Seppuku crossed his arms once more and shook in disapproval, "So stop being a whiny ass white knight and get over it."
On the floor, Earl returned a hostile smirk and shook his head while trembling, "You don't know what it's like, man. You don't know what it's like to have the blood of so many on your hands; to have deprived so many of the greatest freedom there is—life."
"Let it go, dammit. It's been 5 years."
Earl chuckled in a pathetic way and looked down, "I don't even know why I stick around. Chiya's the only person I like, and honestly, it's because she remains unaware of my past. Nice and forgiving as she may be, Chiya would drop me like an anvil if she knew who I really am..."
Seppuku nodded, "True, but now you're just running your mouth again." With some thinking, Earl nodded in agreement and remained silent. Seppuku turned away from the man and went toward the door. "Just go to bed or something. Don't kill yourself over Flower, that's just not what she'd want you to do."
"It's what the Manchus would want me to do..."
Seppuku opened the door and looked back at him, "Forget about the Manchus. That was years ago."
Earl blinked a few times as Seppuku left him alone again. With a drowsy face, Earl sat against his bed and groaned as he recollected over his darker days—days he'd like to forget and keep secret from Chiya.
Chiya entered the lobby of the base and turned on the lights. The once dark lobby now contained portraits of Chiya on the wall, only she appeared to be in her forties. This caused the girl to widen her eyes. The flooring was now blue and red, rather than gray. Chiya looked back and found that the display cases were still standing where they always do, but something was missing.
"Where's the Blood Falcon helmet?"
No response was given, she was left wondering where Seppuku and Earl were; at this point she had a good feeling that they did exist in this world. Still, Chiya shook her head in disbelief at the appearance of the base; she had a feeling that the ambient voice following her would act as a guide soon enough. She opened the door leading to the hallway with the expectation that her room would hold things just as strange as the lobby. She reached for the doorknob in preparation for the worst to happen; as she opened it a crack, a bright light shined with music playing. Chiya widened her eyes and opened the door, she was surprised to find that her room looked nothing like her actual room.
"What is this?"
Her room was white and empty; not even a wall could be seen. It was a blank canvas that she had no intention of walking into, and so she backed away from the room and closed the door in disbelief. After this shocking experience, she turned toward Earl's room. This should be good… She opened the door expecting nothing to be the same, and she was correct.
Earl's room was much different and appeared fit for a woman, not a man. She proceeded to scan the room for anything familiar, but there was nothing she recognized—the room was designed for a woman and that's all she could pick out.
Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, "So, Maggie does move in, then…"
Her eyes then caught something shocking above the bed. Above the bed was a framed photo of another blonde-haired girl in a black t-shirt smiling next to someone—only it wasn't Earl, rather, it was a serious looking Chiya. The Mysterian dropped her jaw in awe and took a step back stepped back. The Chiya depicted in the photo appeared to be much older in the photo. She was not wearing her typical attire in the photo, she was clothed in some kind of navy blue uniform. The much younger woman appeared to be very happy in the photo, while Chiya stood beside her with a serious look.
Is she my daughter..? Chiya shook her head and then rushed out the room with one more place to go. She kicked open the door to Seppuku's office and was ecstatic to find a large portrait of Seppuku behind the desk, but something was still wrong. The second thing Chiya picked out of the room was a nameplate sitting on his desk labeled 'Bendek'. The girl struck her fist against the wall in fury, having enough of the nonsense she was seeing.
"What is this? This isn't Heaven, it's Hell! If it were Heaven I'd understand what the bloody Hell is going on!"
"Perhaps this all makes more sense to you, now?" the voice asked in response.
Chiya shook her head in fast motion while covering her face, "No, nothing makes sense! I wanna go home! I don't like it here, I don't like it here! Please just send me home!" she begged.
"If you died at the correct time, this would all make more sense."
Correct time..? She then gasped as she was no longer in the base, but rather, surrounded by pure light. In front of her was a figure with no clothes or bodily features. A faceless figure with no skin color, hair, genitalia, or anything of that sort.
"You were destined to die far from now, but you jeopardized this by throwing your life around with little care."
Chiya nodded as she understood her situation more, but was still unsure of why she had to die now of all times.
"Okay, but I don't want to die now, I still have to become an F-Zero racer!" she shouted while flailing her arms.
"You wanted that fight, you thoroughly enjoyed the idea of fighting those gang members on the street," the figure accused.
"Wha- Wha- Nope, I was just caught in the middle of a storm!"
"You were angry, sad, hurt. You couldn't bear the thought of Earl Bendek living a happy life with someone other than-"
"But, wait..!" Chiya lowered her eyebrows in shame and gritted her teeth. She had interrupted the figure, but in all actuality, she just didn't want to hear the truth. "Fine, I was angry when I left the base, I should have just stayed indoors…"
The figure nodded, "Taking a walk was fine, but when the shooting occurred, you knew that you would kill them all. Doing so wouldn't end the gang war any faster, only end the lives of more beings with the potential to be rescued from their dark occupation."
"You lie, I didn't want to kill all of them!" she challenged.
"Yes, all of them. You desired to take your anger out on someone, when in reality you should have left the battlefield. Now instead of reconnecting with Earl and having fun, you've allowed him to weep over your unfortunate circumstance."
"What? Earl?" Chiya was then knocked back into an invisible chair by an unknown force. She looked down and panicked for a moment, but retained her focus on the conversation.
"You hold a grudge against the gang leaders; killing their associates will not further you in reaching your goals."
Chiya nodded and acknowledged the lecture, "I'm so sorry, but Seppuku always told me-"
"The pretender you know as 'Seppuku' does not act on any morals, nor does he control you. Do things your way."
Chiya knew the figure was right, Seppuku was not a good role model in the first place. Nothing was stopping her from playing the role of the more merciful member of his organization, her fears of losing a home and potential F-Zero career was the driving force behind her obedience to him. She looked up at the figure, praying that she would get a second chance despite the damage she took.
The figure continued, "I'll get down to the chase, though; you get two options…" Chiya exhaled in relief. "Option one, you stay here forever with access to the other many souls of this universe and full control over your world. You will be granted Godly powers like all others who have fallen; you may use these powers to shape your own world as you so desire—to be your own God. In addition to this, you will be allowed to see those of whom you have lost and still hold dear to you."
The figure pointed to Chiya's left, the sound of thunder ensued as he pointed. Chiya turned her head and spotted another figure. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the man, half his face remained silhouetted by the bright lights, but enough of his face was visible for Chiya to recognize him.
"…D- Dad…"
"I realize that you loved your father very much, he would be ecstatic to finally meet his little girl again…"
Chiya was grunting constantly at the sight of her father, of whom she had such high respect and love for. Chiya shook her head with watering eyes.
"I- I'm so sorry, Dad…"
"Option two," Chiya was still looking at her father as she listened, "I bring you back to Earl and Seppuku, but use this as your one miracle. You're out of luck the next time something this bad happens."
Chiya faced the figure with a dropped jaw, "Only one miracle?"
The figure nodded, "Everyone gets one miracle; one opportunity to escape a fatality under unrealistic circumstances. In your case, you were shot twice and lost far too much blood to possibly recover from. You should be dead, unless you desire to spend this one miracle—in which you will live under miraculous circumstances."
Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a feeling of great pressure, she looked back at her father, "Th- That's an impossible decision…"
"As I recall, your dear friend used up his one miracle a while back, he went through this exact same scenario, believe it or not…"
"Earl or Seppuku?"
"Earl."
Chiya widened her eyes. So Earl really was meant to die at Goroh's hands…
"That's right," the figure responded.
Chiya looked at the figure and gasped, "Hey, come on! You can't just read my mind!"
"Which option will you choose?"
Chiya breathed in, the only reason she was considering staying here was because of her father's presence. Yet, she realized that her time had come far too soon; any rational father in this situation would support his daughter choosing life over death. Chiya bit on her lip, but had the willpower to return to her friends. She rubbed her chin as she thought about this decision with great caution; if she messed up one more time after this—she would be done for good.
"Earl and I both nearly died thinking that we were doing righteous acts." The figure crossed its arms, intrigued by the point, "I think both Earl and I should be able to earn back a miracle; if not I, than he of all people should. My killings have been done out of anger and self-defense; Earl received such a fate because he wanted to stop those pirates from hurting innocent lives. Surely, that is a righteous act."
The figure clapped its hands, "Interesting, it's uncommon for someone to ask for restored miracles. If you two could demonstrate your devotion to your respective religion, maybe then we could work something out…"
Chiya snapped her finger in the air and smiled with an idea, "Soup kitchen!"
"That should be something you do simply as an act of charity and kindness. If you want something in return, you two will have to do something a bit more challenging, in addition to helping others along the way…"
Chiya lowered her eyebrows and head in shame, "I could start going to church again, but-"
"You two must receive blessings from the highest ranking figure of your religion. Since both of you are catholic, you must receive personal blessings from the Pope in New Vatican."
Chiya widened her eyes, "The Pope?"
"Since that is the religion you follow, yes, the Pope. But do not forget, in addition to this, I expect you to act out of kindness—to bring happiness to others in any way you can."
Chiya beamed at the deal, "Sounds good to me!"
She shook hands with the figure, establishing that she wanted to go back to Earth. She now had a side quest to one day accomplish, to leave for New Vatican with Earl and obtain the Pope's blessings. Chiya looked to her left and found that her father was now gone. The figure stepped away from Chiya and nodded.
"Know this, Seppuku is not someone to be trusted, don't let someone like him put you in a bad situation… Though this may surprise you, F-Zero is one of the lesser significant destinies in store for you, Chiya; you are a special type of person with a name that will one day be spoken across the universe." The Mysterian expressed great shock, "The universe needs you, Chiya. Do not let Seppuku deprive the universe of your much needed presence by getting you killed."
Chiya remained shocked, but didn't want to hear more, "Okay, okay; before I go, I have one question to ask…" The powerful figure stood still waiting for her question, "Are you God?"
Silence divided the two for a moment before it answered, "You misunderstand, Chiya. I am no God, I am a servant to you."
"Wha- What?"
"I am a guide, per se. This is your world waiting for you to one day control it. But alas, that day is not today."
Chiya stood up and approached the figure with a taken back face, "Th- Then where is God?"
"That is a question I, nor anyone, can answer."
"But isn't this Heaven?"
The figure shrugged, "Even in the afterlife, the mystery of an existing deity must remain a secret. Perhaps God exists but refuses to reveal itself; perhaps the concept of God is but a mere label for faith—an icon. This is a question you will never find out."
Chiya continued to grunt, "Then, what religion-"
"Does it matter? Faith revolves around the idea that life has purpose, a way of enforcing morals for the betterment of society. Perhaps no religion has it correct; all that matters is that you have faith of some sort, more so, incentive to move forward in life."
"I'm so confused..." Chiya grasped her forehead, then grinned, "Irregardless, I am ready to return home..."
Chiya soon launched herself up in pain and found that she was tucked into her bed. She smiled in relief and looked at her broken hand; the cast was now stained with blood. Chiya struggled to move, however, as she experienced bad aches in her torso. Now clothed in a hospital-like gown, the girl gritted her teeth in fear of how destroyed she may look; a quick examination revealed several large scars across her body.
She stepped out of bed, but a throbbing pain was hitting her chest as she tried doing so. She sat up on the side of her bed and groaned. Was that all real, or just a really messed up dream..?
Chiya landed on her feet and was being very careful not to reopen any wounds, she appeared fine for the most part. She took slow steps toward her door and was feeling dizzy as she walked. She could see that her handgun and signaling device were both sitting alongside her beanie hat.
Moments later she exited her room now wearing her signature beanie hat. She held onto the wall fearing that she was going to fall over as she moved. She had only taken two steps out of her room, but she was already fearful that she could be alone in the base with no one to help her if something went wrong. Seppuku's office had a light coming from under the door; telling her that Seppuku was in his office. Suddenly, Chiya let go of the wall and fell straight through Earl's door. Her head kicked the door open on accident. I need a cane or something… she thought in great frustration.
She stepped forward and looked around Earl's room for anything that she could use as a stick; the first thing she saw was a replica rifle on the wall from the war Earl was in. Chiya reached up and pulled it down, hoping to use it for support.
She pressed the rifle against the ground a few times and found it to be a sturdy weapon; she could now walk much better. Something had caught her eye before leaving the room; there was a gun on Earl's bed. Chiya was intrigued by its appearance, it was much fancier looking than most guns she saw. She held it up and noticed that it had something sketched into the handle, '보호자', she had no idea what this meant.
The bigger shock came with the fact that the gun was already cocked. She set it back down as her eyes now quivered. She was assuming that Earl was either careless leaving a gun ready to fire or that he was contemplating suicide. Chiya shook her head in fright before speeding out of the room.
From behind his desk, Seppuku continued a conversation with Earl, "I'm doing more background checks this time, I want our replacement to complain a lot less and follow my orders to the letter."
Earl was distraught and still drunk to a good extent. He sat in the chair next to Seppuku's desk, "You're so dishonorable, Seppuku, it's sickening..."
"Hey, we're one short, now. We need someone to help us with our organization one way or another."
Earl rubbed his chin and sighed, contemplating how the organization would survive without Chiya's cheery attitude.
"I don't know what I'll do with her gone. If I can't protect one girl from a bad fate, well…" Seppuku looked over at Earl, "God, it's just not fair that this happened..."
"Things happen…" Seppuku replied.
Finally, Earl took some blame off of himself and onto someone else, "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't push her to do this crap!"
Seppuku stared into Earl's eyes and nodded at his misfortune, "Earl…" The Korean lowered his arms, expecting sympathy from Seppuku. "How's the Red Dove coming along?"
Earl glared at him in disbelief, "You don't care about Chiya, you never cared about her!"
"Of course I cared about Chiya. I took her off the streets and was trying to turn her into an F-Zero racer, like she always wanted." Earl lowered his eyebrows with watery eyes. "She died nearly fulfilling her dream, that should be enough to close the book with. You should be happy she came so far..."
Earl lowered his eyelids and frowned, "But none of this should have happened; not to her of all people..."
At that moment the door opened, a now frail Chiya walked in using Earl's rifle as a cane. Both Earl and Seppuku were left with dropped jaws at her sudden appearance. Chiya did not change facial expressions as she walked into the office, nor did she speak.
"Impossible…" Earl muttered in amazement.
Chiya approached Earl and pulled the chair away from him, then collapsed onto it. Seppuku grinned at Chiya, he could tell that she was not well, but not dying either.
"Well, hot damn," was all Seppuku could say.
"Looks like the gangs will have to try harder..." Chiya muttered.
"Thank God…" Earl muttered after exhaling.
Chiya raised her head and stared at Earl, "Earl…"
Earl knelt down beside her, "Yes! How can I help, Chiya?" he pleaded.
Chiya's bangs were covering one eye; the other eye looked at him with fierceness. "You undressed me! What the Hell!" she yelled while tugging on her gown.
Earl backed away and grunted, "I, u—uh, thought you might have a problem with that; so I did a workaround and didn't removing any of your, inner clothing."
Chiya looked down her gown and found that she was still wearing the same bra and underwear she had previously been wearing, "Ah, so you did…"
Seppuku pointed at her and grinned, "Not bad, Flower. You and I caused some beautiful mayhem on the streets…"
Chiya yawned at him, choosing not to respond, "So—o…" she looked at Earl again, "How's Maggie…" she hissed.
Earl grinned at the question, "As soon as I heard what happened to you, I... uh... dumped her and drove back here in an instant."
Chiya faintly smiled at this, "I'm sorry, Earl…"
He waved his hand at her, "No problem, she was kind of burning through my money too quickly, anyway."
Seppuku tapped his fingers down with impatience, feeling ignored. Chiya looked back up at Earl with a smile, "I'm sure you'll find someone eventually."
"How damn heartwarming…" Seppuku muttered in disgust, Chiya shot back an angry look, "Obviously you won't be very helpful right now on the account of your wounds."
Chiya nodded at him, but was trying not to take further offense from him, "Hey, Earl…"
He nodded at her, still overjoyed by her survival, "Yeah?"
Chiya rubbed her chin with a quirked mouth, "Do you wanna... fix some stuff in the garage with me?"
The mechanic beamed and cracked his knuckles, "Heck yeah!" He then grabbed Chiya by the shoulders and exhaled, "But get some rest, please."
The girl dipped her head down and offered a heartwarming smile, "Thank you, Earl..."
To be continued!