==Lap 43=

Deep within the unexplored boundaries of the universe, Black Shadow's massive cruiser drifted silently. The dark metal of the ship perfectly silhouetted itself, as it was nowhere near any stars or planets. All that surrounded the ship was the mysterious colors of space, and all of the distant stars of the universe. Black Shadow had no concern of ever being spotted from his usual position in space.

The throne room of the ship was normally dark with a red illumination, but for once, regular lighting was on. The many monitors that surrounded the throne room were still on, but on this rare occasion, not a single piece of darkness was present in the room. Only Black Shadow-the Emperor of Brutality-brought darkness into the throne with his attire.

Black Shadow was tapping his cheek with a quirked mouth, one leg crossed over the other. In the center of the room stood two Blood Falcon drones, who were holding a man in all white clothing. Standing at a height of 5'6", a cleft chin, grayish-blue eyes, and silky dark brown hair; the man being held by the drones appeared greatly startled and confused. Beside the three stood a specialized Dark Million robot that worked in the restricted laboratory of the ship.

A look of puzzlement struck Black Shadow as he stared at this fairly short man. The room was silent, as no one dared to interrupt Black Shadow's train of thought. The drones stood perfectly still with unbreakable grasps on the man, while the robot stood awaiting Black Shadow's response. The man in white, found himself looking up at the glowing monitors. A look of astonishment was clearly visible on the man's face as he gazed at the advanced camera feed.

After many moments of thinking, Black Shadow quirked his mouth and shrugged helplessly, "I know this man, something about him is strikingly familiar to me…" he closed his eyes and smirked at his robot slowly, "Refresh my memory."

The man slowly looked down at Black Shadow and raised his eyebrows, the robot bowed and crossed its arm over its chest, "Sir, this is Napoleon Bonaparte."

A brightly excited look immediately came upon Black Shadow before clapping his hands in delight, "Ah! I knew it! I simply couldn't recall the name…"

The man-famously known as Napoleon-got a smug look and shook his head defiantly, "Where am I? What year is it!?" he spoke in a heavily French accent.

Black Shadow merely chuckled in response, he swished his hands at his drones, ordering for Napoleon to be released. The drones both simultaneously released the man, nearly knocking him over in the process. Looking up at Black Shadow hostilely, the French emperor tugged on his shirt.

"You have dominion over your men. You must be a king…" Black Shadow nodded slightly, "What land do you rule over? Prussia, Russia, Spain, Two Sicilies-" he gulped slightly and lowered his eyebrows, "France?"

"To tell you the truth, from a certain point of view…" Black Shadow slowly grinned and shrugged, "The Ottomans."

"Wha- what!?"

"But to answer your query, you are quite a distance from Earth. You are within my ship, in the year 2206."

"2206!?"

Black Shadow nodded with a smirk, "I've brought you back to life, Frenchman, to see if you are by chance the one whom I should base my future projects off of."

"Future projects? What do you mean?"

"You see, I have an invincible army of duplicates. However, I am always seeking ways to further strengthen my empire. Is it possible that by mixing the DNA of Captain Falcon with Napoleon Bonaparte, I'll end up with the perfect recipe?"

Napoleon narrowed his eyes, "How am I here?"

"You are not the real Napeoleon Bonaparte, rather, you are an imitation-a copy."

Looking down at his palm, he immediately found himself understanding the situation. No longer did he have the scars of war on his body, he was indeed a freshly made duplicate of the famous French emperor.

"Tell me, Napoleon, what is your stance on war?" Napoleon met with Black Shadow's devilish eyes, "Do you believe that you were a competent man for the many years that you lived?"

Silence ensued as the clone hesitated to answer. It only took seconds for Black Shadow to narrow his eyes and growl slightly. The two drones standing beside Napoleon both looked down at the man with pestered expressions.

"I believe within my heart, that I am a very competent man. No enemy was too powerful. If a nation had leaders, that nation could be brought down. If a nation dropped their weapons, then they also dropped their borders. And if an army surrendered without fighting, this reflected upon the nation as a whole…"

"And when you were defeated and exiled to an island?"

"I take advantage of the situation, and attempt to rise again."

Black Shadow hummed and rubbed his chin slowly, "Interesting…" he snapped his fingers and crossed his arms, "If in order to reach a goal during your campaigns, would you consider slaughtering a family, if it meant claiming a house for you and your men?" Napoleon widened his eyes at the question, "Would you be comfortable carrying out the execution of innocent beings, in order to further your own goals?"

A slight look of disgust overtook Napoleon as he immediately found himself shaking negatively, "I would never. War is meant to be fought between soldiers, unless the family makes an attempt to rebel, I would never consider committing such barbarous-"

He was interrupted by Black Shadow's sigh, "Never mind, I have no use for you."

"What?"

Black Shadow stretched his neck and swished his hand towards the door, "We had to deal with a woman with a heavy English accent last year, I don't much feel like dealing with French this year…"

The drones grasped Napoleon, thus provoking a grunt out of him. The robot nodded and bowed again, "Your order?"

"Take him back to the lab and have him destroyed. Then, cook me up someone new-someone more impressive."

Napoleon gasped loudly as the drones began to drag him away. He panicked loudly and turned his head towards Black Shadow, "Wait! Yo- you need me!"

Disregarding his plea, Black Shadow crossed his arms and growled aloud, "Damn, finding his DNA was just a big waste of time…"

The robot turned towards the door, preparing to go and destroy the clone as commanded. Before reaching the door, the robot turned.

"Master, I had one serious matter to inform you of."

"For your sake, it better be truly serious…"

The robot moved towards the stairs and nodded, "After doing a routine checkup on all Dark Million installations, your experimentation bunker on Devil's Forest has gone offline."

Black Shadow opened his eyes and bobbed his head up somewhat in surprise, "What?"

"From what all available data tells us, our connection to the bunker died days ago."

Slamming his fist down in fury, Black Shadow barred his teeth down, "That incompetent slave, Blaskovitz! I ordered him to destroy the bunker a long time ago, and he never did it!?"

"But, sir, the service robot there has also gone offline, and no connection is available to either of the two. It is likely that the bunker has indeed perished."

"Perished days ago?"

"Affirmative."

Closing his eyes, Black Shadow entered a silent moment of contemplation. The robot remained still, waiting to see if Black Shadow would issue additional orders relevant to this discovery. Out of complete randomness, the lights to the throne room switched off, once again leaving to a red illuminated throne.

"Either Captain Falcon or Lieutenant Seppuku is to blame for this…"

"Off of what evidence, if I may ask?"

"If it were the Federation, they would have preserved the bunker and stripped it of its contents…" Black Shadow tapped his chin with an overly infuriated expression, he look of anger momentarily turned into slight surprise, "No, not Captain Falcon. It had to be Seppuku and his destructive nature…"

"You believe that Lieutenant Seppuku has found our bunker?"

"Seppuku and Captain Falcon are the only two capable of finding me. Seppuku, however, was built for destruction. It only makes sense that he would be the one to destroy-"

Black Shadow stopped himself from finishing his sentence, as he took more moments to think about this. The robot remained perfectly still, as if it were powered off. Black Shadow remained still as well, then broke the silence by stepping out of his chair. His sharp boots slammed against the floor before he proceeded down the fleet of stairs. The robot accompanied the dark emperor down the throne and towards the door.

"Do you have further orders for me, master?"

Black Shadow shoved the robot aside and chuckled loudly, "Leave me, I must prepare some new wargames…"

The two went down the hallway from different directions. The robot heading back to the restricted laboratory, where it would continue its search for the perfect clone. Black Shadow, proceeded down the hallway with a heavy smirk on his face, prepared to up his game in such a contested war with Lieutenant Seppuku.

"You are avoiding the inevitable, Seppuku…" he crossed his arms behind his cape as he walked, momentarily revealing his maniacal sharp grin, "You are an anti-Dove, and nothing more. And like any evil being, you will fall…"

Seppuku found himself sitting on the couch of Chiya's ship with a fairly upset look. Beside him sat Chiya, who had Mauser safely in her arms. Siberia was hiding near the Red Dove out of fear of the new environment. Lastly, Earl was standing around Seppuku's machine, inspecting it for any more bumps. Yet again, Earl had seemingly succeeded in restoring the Red Dove back into a competition worthy machine.

The silence was momentarily broken as Chiya squealed excitedly at the television, Seppuku growled softly in response. Pointing at the screen, Chiya began to bounce excitedly and shook Mauser roughly.

"Mauser! Look!" A cat was sitting still in the program that she was watching, but it did nothing more than sit while the two central characters conversed, "Mauser! Look! It's a cat! You're a cat!"

Mauser turned his head and lowered it onto her leg, Chiya glared at him and continued to shake him, "Mauser! Mauser!" It was too late, the cat was no longer visible on screen. Chiya groaned and closed her eyes, "Mauser, you missed it!"

Having had enough, Seppuku cracked his knuckles and growled loudly, "Oh for the love of- Why did we have to bring the fleabags along!?"

Earl bobbed his head up and turned towards the two, sensing an argument coming along. Chiya smiled and began to stroke Mauser's fur, "Because, I hardly get to see my cuties anymore."

"We're only going to be gone for a few hours, why couldn't you just wait?"

"Yeah, and we have a race coming up quickly."

Earl approached the two with a grin, "We'll be heading out to the Lightning Area next, so we won't be far from home."

"Really? We haven't raced on Earth in a long time!"

"Idiot, we raced in Las Vegas not even a year ago."

Chiya whipped her head towards Seppuku angrily, engaging him in a heavy stare. Seppuku lowered his eyebrows with a twitching quirked mouth, Chiya's eyes gradually narrowed by the second. Earl cleared his throat and clapped his hands loudly.

"Come on, there's no need to tear each other up for no reason…"

The two continued to stare hostilely at each other, but Seppuku broke the silent staring by crossing his arms defiantly.

"All I want to know, is why we had to bring the damn cats along."

Chiya hugged Mauser tightly with the same offended look, Earl smirked and shrugged before pointing towards the corner of the room.

"Chiya brings them for the same reason you carry your broken old rifle along."

Seppuku lowered his eyebrows and turned his head towards the corner, where his old broken scopeless rifle sat. Chiya looked back at the rifle as well, then smirked in confusion.

"Why do we still carry that thing around?"

"That thing saved your life countless times in the past."

"And I appreciate that," Chiya brushed her hair aside, "But you're my hero, not the gun."

Seppuku sat up and walked around the couch, proceeding towards his split weapon. Chiya and Earl exchanged glances, he then knelt down by his rifle and sighed. Once again, Chiya looked up at Earl, simply not understanding Seppuku's attachment to the rifle.

"I'm sentimental towards this weapon. It was the weapon that started my adventure, and once I get it fixed, where my adventure will hopefully end…"

Earl gasped and raised his eyebrows, "You're going to try fixing it?"

"I must. Lily gave me a good assault rifle, I'll give it to her. But I need my old rifle back, the weapon I'm a perfect shot with."

Chiya continued to pet Mauser as she stared at the strange man. She would never understand his relationship with his weapon, but she could only imagine that it was like her relationship with the Purring Kitten. This was Seppuku's first rifle, and he simply disliked the idea of replacing it. Chiya would be heartbroken if she were forced to throw out the Purring Kitten and replace it with a new machine. This was the machine she began her journey with, and the same machine she would like to retire driving.

Deciding that it was time to put Seppuku's mind to rest, she pointed at the looted crate of spacesuits and smiled, "So, can we see the suits you brought along?"

"Certainly."

He walked over to the crate and stomped his foot down the center, Chiya and Earl widened their eyes as soon as his foot crashed through the top. After removing his foot, he grasped the crate and stretched the top apart, easily breaking the crate open. Chiya dropped Mauser and flipped over to look over the couch, she puckered her lips and let out a silent gasp of awe. Earl cupped his hand over his mouth and raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, this all looks very expensive…"

"Not at all, in fact, Jody gave these to me."

Chiya rolled right off of the couch and crawled up to the crate, "Jody gave these to you, or you took these from her?"

Seppuku chuckled while pulling out three oxygen tanks, "I made a trade with her."

Earl smirked and shook negatively, "I somehow doubt that…" he scoffed.

"I traded her Goroh for spacesuits. Well, except she didn't know it was me talking on the phone…"

Chiya and Earl both gasped loudly. Instinctively, Chiya leapt to Seppuku and wrapped her arms around his legs, "Goroh is dead!?"

"Or in prison."

Chiya wrapped her arms around Seppuku's legs much more tightly while on her knees, "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

Seppuku grunted and tried breaking away from Chiya's grasp, but she had a very strong grasp around his legs. He smirked and tried to kick her away, but to no avail.

"…you and Fiona, grabbing my legs…" he muttered faintly.

Earl pulled out one of the spacesuits, his eyes immediately widened upon spotting the massive glass helmet, "Oh, wow, this is much bigger than I imagined…"

"Yeah, unfortunately this was all the Feds had."

Chiya clapped her hands excitedly, "Looks real spacey to me!"

She leaned into the crate and pulled out the pink suit, her eyes widened upon spotting the extra breast space on the suit. Seppuku pulled out the final suit and quickly plugged one of the massive oxygen tanks into the back. The tank snapped on, leaving Seppuku to merely screw in the oxygen tubes. Earl tapped on the glass a few times, ensuring that it was durable enough for combat.

"As you can see, unlike the more primitive spacesuits, the tank, helmet, and tubes are the only parts that need to be protected. The glass helmet is bulletproof, so essentially, you just need to keep your back safe."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows very slowly and quirked her mouth, "I get a pink suit?"

"Yeah, I assumed-"

"So let me get this straight. Just because I'm a girl, I'm expected to wear pink on a dangerous mission?"

Earl smirked and shook negatively, "We can trade."

Seppuku chuckled mockingly at Earl, "What the Hell…"

"No, no, no. I love the pink suit, it's just that…" she lowered her eyebrows at Seppuku somewhat hostilely, "It's mean of you to presume-"

"Jesus Christ, Flower. I could have gotten you blue, but I chose pink for you! Get over it and accept the damn gift."

"Okay!" she snapped loudly.

Of the three, Earl was the most anxious to get his suit on. He had already put on his entire suit, with the exception of the helmet. Chiya turned towards him and beamed.

"Look at my big strong astronaut."

Earl smirked at her and twisted his body, deciding to flex for her. Chiya widened her eyes and bit on her finger softly before giggling. Seppuku backed away from the two and rubbed his chin softly.

"I wonder what it's like to have space sex…" he clapped his hands and smirked at the two, "You two should go bang right now and tell me how it feels."

Both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes and turned away from each other before blushing immensely.

The lights in Jody's office were off, and only Jody stood present in the room. Most of the room remained dark, but the massive windows brought in much light. Jody was experiencing a rare day of silence, a day where her phone rarely rung. What would normally be a relaxing day of work, was not relaxing in the slightest bit. As her confrontations with Seppuku continued to increase, she was left once again pondering about a certain matter-the same matter she had been investigating ever since he escaped.

Jody lowered her eyebrows and placed her hand against the window, "Seppuku is still beating me, despite Chiya and Earl's claim that they are being hunted…" she closed her eyes in frustration and rubbed her chin, "But the evidence is undeniable. Seppuku was at the Throwdown match, at the bar, and he inspired the Lower City citizens to demand food stamps…"

She grinded her teeth intensely and intensified her grasp of the window. He must still live in Mute City, he just has to. But if he does, where is he living, and why hasn't he made a move on Chiya and Earl..? She opened her eyes into slight slits and shook negatively. For that matter, why is Chiya and Earl still living in that base if they're being hunted…

Jody slowly peered down upon the Lower City, which was completely visible from her office. Her gaze was centered primarily on the dark streets. I just don't understand. The only possibility is that Seppuku is living with those two, but I've checked them numerous times without any evidence supporting this theory…

Looking back up at the sky, Jody lowered her eyebrows and sighed. "For someone who's trying to kill Chiya, he sure doesn't seem very hostile towards her on the track. And what about all of these random phone calls from Chiya? Why would such a young woman confront the chief commander about such sexual matters?"

Jody had finally reached her limit on this matter. It only made sense to her that Chiya and Earl had reunited with Seppuku, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never prove this. Doing another inspection of their base was out of the question. After so long, Jody had now realized that there was but one surefire way to prove this once and for all.

She opened her eyes very slowly and looked back at her desk with quivering eyes. Staring at her pen intensely, she had come up with one final decision. The tip of her pen was bleeding with ink, as if the final solution to her problem was right in front of her this entire time. Gradually widening her eyes, Jody nodded and approached the pen.

"That's it. I know what must be done…" she grasped her pen and sat back in her chair, prepared to make one final attempt at taking down Seppuku, "If this fails, I'll have my answer once and for all…"

Later that day, Chiya and Earl stood in the bridge of the ship, gazing out at all of the stars and planets that were visible. The team had arrived in the Imperium galaxy, but in a much different sector of the galaxy. Silence was just ahead of them, but Chiya and Earl were looking at just about anything but Silence.

"Which one is that?" asked Earl.

Chiya stared at his pointed finger, then looked out into space. A cute smirk momentarily formed on her face, "Mysteria, obviously."

From their position in the galaxy, Mysteria appeared to be merely half the size of Earth's moon. The planet was very bright, oddly enough, just as bright as White Land.

Both were left with radiant smiles as they gazed upon the bright planet. Chiya turned towards Earl and blinked once, "Isn't it a beautiful planet?"

Earl leaned against one of the chairs and smirked after blinking twice, "It really is. It's incredible that such a hated planet, can provide so much beauty into the universe. From here, it almost looks like the perfect snowball."

"Oddly enough, if there was no fog, Mysteria would mostly be green and brown."

"I have to admit, it has always fascinated me that any grass can form on Mysteria. The grass isn't as green and long as the kind you would find in North America, but it's unique nevertheless."

Silence clouded the room, both were left staring at the perfectly white planet. Just in front of them was another white planet, but both were perfectly consumed by the beauty of Mysteria. The pure beauty only filled Chiya's head with the same question she had been asking herself for years. Why would such a beautiful planet deserve to be bombed. A question she dreamed to one day have answered.

Earl slowly turned his attention away from Chiya for a moment, then grinned as he spotted a very minuscule yellow planet out in the distance.

"Hey, Chiya, how about that planet? I know how much you like that planet."

Chiya placed her hand on the window and squinted, the slight yellow blur was visible to her, but without glasses, she had difficulty making out the full image. Regardless of her impaired vision, she successfully identified which planet this was.

"Wanker, I hate Sand Ocean."

At that moment, the bathroom door had been kicked open. Seppuku put his gloves back on and looked into the living room, then the bridge. He grunted loudly and stomped his foot down upon spotting the two simply standing around.

"What are you two doing? Get your suits on already!"

Chiya smirked and shrugged, "Relax, we're not even there yet."

"We'll be there in a minute. I'm just going to fly us down close to this location." Seppuku pushed Chiya aside and sat down in his seat. Chiya was left wondering why he was lecturing them about the spacesuits, considering he himself wasn't wearing one yet, "You better be right about the factory being on Silence."

"It has to be, I know it's in the Imperium galaxy, and if it is, there's no way it can't be this planet. Every other planet in this galaxy is heavily populated."

Earl grabbed the back of Seppuku's seat with a grin, "I wouldn't be worrying about Chiya's estimation. I would be worrying about whether you got the first coordinates in the first place. This is taking us to a factory, right? Not an ice cream shop?"

"Cut the funny crap, Bendek. That's my shtick."

Earl smirked and wrapped his arm around Chiya's, "Come on, Chi. Let's go get suited up."

The two began walking towards the living room, Chiya turned her head with a nervous expression, "Seppuku, take us down easy, okay?" he turned his head towards her and raised an eyebrow, "If we crash, I doubt we'll be getting help anytime soon…"

"Relax, this ship comes with a phone, remember?"

Earl stopped to let Chiya conclude her chat with Seppuku, "Yeah? Who would we call, smart guy? The space toeing company?"

"No, I'd call Jody."

Both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes. Earl dipped his head down and groaned slightly, "L- let's not crash…"

Many minutes later, the loading ramp of the ship roughly hit the ground. The edge of the ramp had somewhat crashed into the soil of Silence. There was no sound on the planet, no bright blue sky, and nothing of notable significance aside from the massive mountains. In general, this planet was no different from Earth's moon. At one point, Silence had an F-Zero track, but was deconstructed just prior to the opening of the F-Zero X Grand Prix due to the severe lack of oxygen. While the planet did have some oxygen, it could only provide someone with about 15% of the oxygen one would breathe in on Earth. Fortunately, humanity had proven countless times that they can add oxygen into an atmosphere through heating, planting, and recycling energy. It would only be a matter of time before this planet could be colonized, but this still begged the question of whether Mysteria, Magica, or the Galactic Space Federation would reach it first.

With a bright excited smile behind the cyan visor of her helmet, Chiya leapt out of the ship and into the air with the reduced gravity.

"One small leap for Mysteria, and-"

Before Chiya even came close to landing, Seppuku had dived straight into her and lifted her up. Chiya panicked loudly as Seppuku held her in the air, he momentarily landed on the ground and began to laugh loudly.

"Blocked!"

"Seppuku! I wanted to be the first one of us to-"

"Oh, stop your whining, child."

Earl casually walked down the ramp, then closed the ramp by pressing a button. Seppuku put Chiya down and got a somewhat angered look as the ramp closed.

"Dammit, Flower. This is why I didn't want you bringing your animals along. We could have left the ramp open and make a quick getaway if we're in trouble, but now we have to wait for the ramp to open when we finish our mission."

Chiya crossed her arms and puckered her lips, "Well, sorry that the Federation didn't have any available spacesuits for cats."

Earl and Seppuku were wearing identical suits, which would make identifying the two fairly difficult. The only significant differences between the two was that Seppuku was taller and wasn't wearing his fedora for once. Chiya would naturally be the easiest to identify, on the account that she was wearing a bright pink suit.

Without another second to waste, Seppuku began walking towards a series of hills. Considering there was no vegetation on the planet, this was nothing more than a large series of elevated terrain. Chiya and Earl were holding onto their assault rifles, the same ones they had been given for the Devil's Forest mission. Unfortunately, Chiya would be unable to make use of the weapon scope, as she had too large of a visor.

The two hustled towards Seppuku, who was taking very large steps forth. Chiya raised her eyebrows and reached out towards him, "Seppuku! Hold up!"

Seppuku declined the request, continuing to move at a steady pace, "I swear that I saw something blocky over those hills when we were landing."

Earl came up beside Chiya and raised an eyebrow, "I think I saw something to, but it may have just been a darker rock formation."

The three continued to walk for a few moments in silence. Chiya was still trying to adjust to the spacesuit she was in, specifically the helmet and heavy weight on her back. After stretching her back slightly, she observed her surroundings with a puzzled look.

"Where's the racetrack on this planet?"

Seppuku swished his hand back, "We're nowhere near that location. That's way in the center of the planet. But to answer your question, the committee scrapped it for parts."

"What went wrong?"

"Dunno, wasn't racing at that time."

Silence soon ensued once more. The three were close to their destination, but still had to walk about half a mile over the hilly terrain. In about 5 minutes, the three had begun climbing the largest hill. Naturally, Chiya was the one holding them up.

Little did the three know, they were not alone. About half a mile away from Chiya's ship stood a figure in golden boots and a blue suit-watching, as the three made their way towards the supposed factory location.

About 3 minutes had passed of nonstop climbing. Seppuku and Earl were nearly to the top of the massive hill; Chiya was still climbing, but was only about two meters behind Earl. The trip was short, but the discovery that was to be made would undoubtedly make up for this.

Seppuku slammed his hand down roughly on the soft rocky surface, followed by the next hand. Finally, he lifted himself up to the top of the hill. Before he got his entire body up, he grunted and raised his eyebrows in shock. Earl very swiftly slammed his hands down as well before bolting up to the top. Instead of looking forward as Seppuku had done, Earl turned and reached down for Chiya's hand.

"Bendek, it's crazier than I thought."

Earl got a firm grasp on Chiya's hand, then on her other. While lifting her up, Earl turned his head to see what Seppuku had found. Chiya leapt up to the top and landed on her belly, Earl grunted loudly and softly slapped his hand against his visor.

"Jesus Christ, what is this?"

Chiya exhaled loudly and licked her lips, she quickly joined in on the discovery by looking up as well. Her eyes quickly widened in shock. Seppuku was left standing in complete shock.

Across from them was indeed a factory, however, this was nowhere close to the same size as the experimentation bunker on Devil's Forest. The factory was massive-even larger than Vax's compound. There were about 20 smokestacks off the top of the factory, along with a giant domelike structure on top. From what was visible, the dome had a window going all the way around it like a thin ring.

Chiya grasped her waist and let out a loud whistle, "Black Shadow must be making something more than an army in there…"

"I was thinking the exact same thing…" answered Seppuku.

Earl gritted his teeth nervously, "Even for a factory, that's a lot of smokestacks…"

"Like Flower said, he must be making more than a supernatural army in there. We must be dealing with weaponry, machines, ships, bombs, and all of that stuff."

Chiya smirked, "Sounds like a high priority target."

"Agreed."

Seppuku got down on the slope of the hill, preparing to make a quick slide down. Before he could do so, Earl grabbed both him and Chiya. Seppuku cracked his knuckles and spun around.

"Bendek?"

"Seppuku, I'm all for destroying this factory, but this looks really important. I mean, really important. This very well could be the heart of Dark Million. But maybe we should consider-"

"Consider..?"

Chiya looked Earl in the eyes with a curious look, Earl returned a nervous look towards her, "I'm proposing that we don't take the risk. We should just report our findings to Jody and-"

"Out of the question!"

Chiya nodded in agreement, "While I agree that extra help would be nice, we can't expose ourselves to Jody. A great deal of time may have passed, but I have a feeling that she'd still lock us up in prison if she caught us with Seppuku."

After sighing, Earl bit his lip and nodded, "Well, yeah. But-"

Disregarding Earl's concern, Seppuku proceeded to slide down the hill on his feet. Chiya turned her head towards Earl with a smile and bowed, "We'll be fine."

Unlike Seppuku, Chiya got down on her rear and pushed herself down the hill. Earl quickly brought himself to the edge as well, but took a few moments to observe the dome of the factory. An even more curious look overcame him.

"But what I want to know, is who's in charge of this facility if only Black Shadow and Blood Falcon are left alive…" he muttered to aloud.

No attempt of stealth was being employed, Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku simply made their way to the large entrance of the factory. The door was massive, nearly a size that would allow for Chiya to land her ship in. What was surprising to everyone, was that the factory was fairly new looking. There wasn't a bit of rust anywhere visible on the door. Seppuku had taken it upon himself to search for a way in, while Chiya and Earl simply stared at the door in complete awe.

Earl smirked and glanced over at Seppuku, "Think you can kick this door open?"

"Don't be an idiot fool, of course I can't," he slammed his clenched fist against the door and hummed, "Not without my leather boots…"

Chiya raised an eyebrow and turned towards Seppuku, "I have a plan, but it would involve me dressing up like Rose, you dressing up like Blood Falcon, and Earl dressing up like a prisoner…"

"To Hell with that," Seppuku shoved Chiya aside very softly and grasped onto the massive door, Chiya and Earl backed up in shock as he began to climb, "I'll get it open with strategy…"

"Seppuku!"

Earl narrowed his eyebrows and cupped his hands to his mouth, "Seppuku, get down from there! You'll hurt yourself."

Seppuku completely disregarded Earl's warning and continued to climb upward using the crevices of the large door. The oxygen tank on his back added weight, but he still managed to make slight leaps while climbing. Chiya was left with a distressed look, while Earl appeared pestered by Seppuku's dangerous act. After reaching for the top of the massive door, Seppuku hit the top and pulled himself up. Just as he got on his knees, he spotted exactly what we was looking for. Two giant door hinges were present above the door, both made of pure metal.

Looking down, Seppuku swished his hand back constantly, "Get back, I'm going to knock the door down."

Chiya widened her eyes, "C- can't we just go back and try my idea?"

Once again, Seppuku had ignored any incoming advice from the two. He walked over to the first hinge and slammed his hands around the metal tightly. Chiya and Earl both backed away from the door with petrified expressions. Through pure brute force, Seppuku began to pull on the hinge. Veins began to pop in his forehead as he pulled.

"L- leave it to Dark Million to design unbreakable hinges…"

The hinge was beginning to loosen, the metal was practically peeling off of the door at this point. Soon, a giant complex looking screw appeared underneath. Seppuku bit his lip and gradually began to twist the hinge.

Earl dropped his arms and grunted, "Oh my God. You'd need one Hell of a wrench to take that out…"

"I don't think we need a wrench for this…" Chiya said with a simple grin.

Just moments after the screw became more visible, the entire hinge had been ripped off of the door, leaving only a screw. The door instantly tilted, leaving Seppuku to nearly fall. Both Chiya and Earl expressed panic, but Seppuku had successfully gotten a grasp of the door again. Despite the door being in such a bad position, Seppuku was still determined to get the final hinge off.

"Seppuku! Forget about the last hinge, we can probably pull this thing open at this point."

Seppuku grasped the other hinge and began to pull, "Bendek, don't you know anything about doors?"

"A little bit…"

"I've been installing doors for years! I think I know how to get one off!"

"But-"

Chiya grabbed Earl's hand and shook negatively, "Just let him do his thing."

Seppuku began to twist the hinge off, and the door slowly began to weaken as he did so. He took one last look down and gritted his teeth, "Have your guns ready! They could be waiting for us!"

Earl brought his weapon up and took aim at the door, Chiya looked up at him and did the same. The final hinge was barely holding the door together, with one final twist to go, Seppuku exhaled and got a firm grasp of the door. He slapped the hinge, thus sending it into a spiral off of the final screw. With no hinges left, the entire door was to come crashing down. Seppuku held onto the top of the door tightly, preparing to leap off if necessary.

Chiya's eyes began to quiver as she watched Seppuku, "Dear God, I hope he doesn't hurt himself…"

Very quickly, Seppuku flipped himself onto the back of the door, proceeding to ride it instead. Placing his feet against the back and holding onto the top, he turned his head and gritted his teeth. The door slammed, and the powdery planet surface blew past Chiya and Earl. Instinctively, both had closed their eyes to avoid getting anything in their eyes. Only Chiya realized that her visor protected her eyes. Both took aim again as their visibility became clear again, and both were relived to find Seppuku standing atop of the door.

Both smiled at him and lowered their weapons, Seppuku nodded at them and turned towards the now opened factory.

"Told you I could get it open."

The three had entered the factory. The main entrance was massive, dark, and fairly empty. It only took Seppuku a minute to discover that this wasn't necessarily the entrance, rather, this was a parking garage for cargo vehicles. For all they knew, the factory may have had a simple door somewhere around the structure to enter from.

Seppuku walked at a regular pace with his normal stern look. Chiya and Earl both appeared nervous and were holding onto their assault rifles for dear life. No one had any idea what might jump out at them, but for some reason, Chiya was almost certain that something would go straight for her, and not Seppuku. Holding a very similar fear, Earl remained close to Chiya, prepared to defend or take a bullet for her if needed. Far ahead of them was a regular sized sliding door. Though very faint, the sounds of machinery could be heard from behind the door.

Before reaching the door, Seppuku turned his head back and eyed Chiya, "If we come across anything supernatural, I want you two to run."

Earl smiled at him faintly and nodded, "What about you?"

"I'll fight, but I refuse to allow myself to be captured. In the event that I do die, I want you two to return to Earth and report your findings to Jody and Captain Falcon."

Both Chiya and Earl were silenced and sent into a state of nervousness by his cryptic instructions. Chiya gulped slightly and rolled her eyes aside before nodding. Unlike Chiya, Earl brushed off these instructions with a smirk.

"We'll be fine. Don't forget that we have the element of surprise," said Earl.

Seppuku approached the door and sighed, "Correct, but just keep in mind, this is likely the factory that produces his demons-the same demons that leveled New Edinburgh."

Earl felt as if his forehead had suddenly become sweaty, but this only inspired Chiya even more. Getting a firm grasp on the barrel of her weapon, Chiya planted her feet down and narrowed her eyes.

"Let's do this!"

After acknowledging Chiya's optimism with a nod, Seppuku took a very simple step forward. The sliding door opened just as Seppuku's foot hit the ground. A heavy heat immediately blew past the three, followed by the much louder sound of machinery at work. Chiya raised her eyebrows in utter shock, finding disbelief in the fact that she could feel the heat in her current gear. The three entered the central part of the factory, and everyone-including Seppuku-were left jaw dropped by what they were seeing.

Earl raised his eyebrows and came to an abrupt stop, "S- Seppuku..!"

"I know…"

Chiya's eyes quivered in awe, and her stance had become stricken by an uncontrollable tremble. Seppuku gazed upon their discovery with a dropped jaw, absolutely shocked by what he was seeing. His mouth momentarily closed, but the same look of shock remained. Seppuku was almost certain that they were coming to an experimentation factory that would produce Black Shadow's super army-the Blood Falcon drone factory. But alas, this wasn't at all what they had discovered. They indeed found a factory that produced Black Shadow's army, just not the army Seppuku was expecting.

In front of them was a massive factory with countless amounts of assembly lines. On each line, stood several Death Soldiers-the robot infantry and servants of Dark Million. Each line brought the robots to different stages, going from wiring, to programming, and to plating. The Death Soldiers were then brought through a hatch near the ceiling, where they would undergo storage. On a completely separate line, the munitions that the Death Soldiers used was being created. Laser rifles and explosives, these were being made in the thousands. Lastly, one more line carried scrap metal to a melting hamper. The scrap metal would be reused after being melted, likely for the Death Soldiers and munitions.

Seppuku dropped his arms down and slowly lowered his eyebrows, "Damn."

Chiya took a step forward and held back a gasp of awe, "So, New Edinburgh was destroyed by Death Soldiers?"

Seppuku immediately stomped his foot forward and shook negatively, "No, we didn't find the location of Black Shadow's super soldier factory, we found the location of…" he looked up at the assembly lines and raised his eyebrows once more, "Black Shadow's huge ass Death Soldier factory…"

Earl let out a very sharp whistle and grasped his waist, "No wonder he was able to deploy so many of these bastards onto Green Plant."

Seeing no immediate danger ahead of them, Seppuku continued forward into the factory with his companions. The surface of the factory was simple and flat, but assembly lines covered the entire room like vines in a jungle. Far ahead of them was another door, this one slightly more advanced than the entrance door. Chiya and Earl were scanning their flanks for danger, but both continuously looked up at the hundreds of Death Soldiers. Chiya dropped her jaw once more as they passed under a line, the shadow of the line covered the two briefly as they passed through.

"Seppuku, this is incredible…" Chiya admitted.

"Yeah, but don't forget how useless these things were on Green Plant. Even you took down a good amount of them."

Earl sighed and widened his eyes, "How are we supposed to blow this place up if we didn't bring any bombs?"

Seppuku hummed curiously and looked up at the lines once more. Off the corner of his eye, he could see a rocket launcher moving along slowly. He smirked and nodded at the line slowly.

"I'm still working out my plan…"

The three reached the center of the room, where a massive logo was painted onto the floor. Seppuku came to a stop and looked down at the logo in confusion. Chiya looked down and lowered her eyebrows. Earl continued to scan the area for danger as the two pondered on about the logo.

"Strange, Black Shadow never fancied flashy logos…"

Chiya took a step back and nodded, "Dark Million honors a red cross, right?"

"Yeah…"

The logo beneath them featured a massive golden planet with numerical coding covering it. In the center of the planet, the bold letters 'MG' could be seen in bronze. Seppuku appeared somewhat startled by this, as if the obvious was right in front of him.

"MG? What does-" he grunted loudly, having suddenly recognized another striking feature of the logo. Beside the golden planet, was a red moon, "This logo is of Aeropolis…" Seppuku muttered loudly.

At that moment, the door in front of them slid open. Neither of the three had heard this, but the sound of metal footsteps had quickly become apparent. All at once, the three looked up. Chiya and Earl both gasped loudly and jumped back in shock, Seppuku merely lowered his eyebrows and cracked his knuckles.

"Of course, I should have known that you were behind this. I should have known as soon as we had met that trashy robot on Devil's Forest…"

A pair of chrome metal feet came to a stop just in front of the logo. This was a figure that both Chiya and Seppuku had slight dislike towards, only he had a clear upgrade. Now chrome silver with blue trimmings-instead of yellow, Mighty Gazelle stood before the group-exposed at long last. The most striking change on the cyborg, was his new massive sharp shoulder pads.

Earl gritted his teeth and shook in disbelief, "What? Mighty Gazelle is a bad guy!?"

The cyborg's brightly glowing white eyes met with Seppuku's visor, "Lieutenant Seppuku, I was warned ahead of time of your arrival. I am ecstatic to see that I was not led on with false information."

Seppuku cracked his knuckles and growled, "The Bat…" he muttered accusingly.

"Seppuku, how could you possibly blame Jody for-"

"I was alerted by one of my old side projects that you had acquired the location of this installation. Fortunately, I was present to heed the warning before its demise on Devil's Forest."

"So, pal, how long have you been sucking Black Shadow's-"

"Shortly after the Great Accident in the conclusion of the annual Grand Prix, my charred body had been collected by Black Shadow. He rebuilt me and enhanced my knowledge, which in turn, I used to help him. However, his inept understanding of mind control led me to immediately leave Dark Million, and pursue personal interests."

Earl smirked challengingly, "So, you're not in Dark Million, yet you're giving them thousands of combat androids. Yeah, you're totally neutral."

"Ah, but you misunderstand, mechanic. Black Shadow is my enemy."

All three were left standing with clueless looks, Chiya quirked her mouth and shook negatively, "No-o, I'm pretty sure that means you're his friend."

Seppuku grinded his teeth and raised his weapon, "Even for a talking trash can, you're spewing out a lot of garbage..."

"I understand why you may be confused. So allow for me to explain." Gazelle looked up at the assembly belt and stretched his arms, "What if I were to tell you that in each Death Soldier, a specialized code has been implemented. And this code authorizes me unlimited access to each bot on command."

"What kind of access?"

"As of now, hundreds of Death Soldiers patrol the hallways of Black Shadow's personal battleship. Even more than that remains in his reserves, ready to act on request. And nearly a thousand Death Soldiers currently await shipping from this complex."

"That doesn't answer my question…" Seppuku hissed silently.

"You see, Seppuku. While the Death Soldiers are programmed to be loyal to Black Shadow, at any moment, I can signal for all activated Death Soldiers to turn their weapons onto him. Certainly, even the Emperor of Brutality cannot dodge hundreds of projectiles."

Chiya gasped with an excited look, "So you can kill Black Shadow whenever you desire!?"

"Affirmative."

Seppuku lowered his weapon and shook his fist at Gazelle, "Something still seems fishy here. If this is all true, why did you align yourself with me two years ago on Sand Ocean and combat Blood Falcon? And why did Blood Falcon take you out last year in the final race?"

Earl nodded and took aim at Gazelle, "Yeah, something does seem fishy about that…"

The cyborg's eyes flickered for a moment, "That is because I am not affiliated with anyone else. Blood Falcon does not know of my involvement, only Black Shadow knows. As far as Blood Falcon is concerned, I am but a cybernetic genius-the fruit of mankind."

"A fruit that I wanna squash…"

Chiya glared at Seppuku and grabbed his arm, "Seppuku! Be nice!"

Silence ensued between the four, only the sound of industrial work ravaged the massive room. Gazelle remained absolutely still, but was momentarily poked by Seppuku.

"Enough playing around, Gazelle. Call up your robot minions and order them to destroy Black Shadow, now!"

"Oh, but I cannot do that. Not yet."

Seppuku growled and cracked his knuckles, "That wasn't a request, it was an order…"

"A coup d'etat cannot occur until a specific amount of my Death Soldiers have been planted into his ship. Not only do I lack an optimal amount onboard to deal with him and his minions, but many are powered off in his reserves."

Chiya and Seppuku remained still with confused looks, but Earl's eyes shot open upon hearing a keyword.

"Wait, did you just establish that you're fabricating a coup d'etat?"

Seppuku turned his head, "What's that?"

Earl raised his eyebrows and slowly looked into Gazelle's eyes, "The replacement of a government by force."

Seppuku pondered about this for a few moments, but quickly caught onto Earl's concern. He swung around towards Gazelle and brought his fist up threateningly, "What's that about?"

Gazelle brought his hands up into the air, "As you know, Black Shadow's battleship features a doomsday weapon. If I were able to capture this device, there would be no one in the universe that would dare to oppose me."

Chiya and Earl gasped loudly, but Seppuku crossed his arms, "Oh?"

"S- so you're a super villain!?" panicked Chiya.

"No!" Gazelle's eyes suddenly began to glow bright yellow, "Black Shadow desires to destroy humanity. I desire to bring order to the universe! I desire to capture this doomsday weapon and present it to Mother-Q-before I insert myself into her, that is…"

Chiya and Earl gasped loudly once more, Seppuku simply stood with a quirked mouth.

"Um-m, what?"

"I will insert myself into Mother-Q, and thus take control of her. I will become Mother-Q at the expense of my humanity."

"Oh, I see…"

"Once I have taken complete control of Aeropolis, I will use the doomsday weapon to dismantle the Galactic Space Federation. Any planet that resists, will be destroyed. Once every planet leaves the Federation and submits to Aeropolis, I will have created perfect unity and harmony within the universe."

Earl raised his eyebrow, "So, essentially, the same plan as Dark Million, only-"

"I desire to achieve universal harmony through threats and control. We will thus live in a perfect universe."

Seppuku chuckled and took aim at Gazelle, "Well, I have unfortunate news for you…" he wrapped his finger around the trigger and smirked, "The universe is a happy enough place right now. And I'm not going to let you destroy an entire planet, for example; just because the Mysterian government declines your demands." Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, having not thought about this, "You claim that harmony will be created by destroying entire planets, merely because their governments may want to fight?"

"I will issue invitations to the citizens of targeted planets to come live on Aeropolis, prior to the destruction of their planets."

Seppuku nodded at his companions, "I've heard enough to declare you as a bad guy. Chiya, Earl, get ready to fry this bastard."

A very low pitched sigh came from Gazelle as he began to back away towards the door. He appeared very calm as he moved, but this was generally being viewed as an attempt to flee by Seppuku.

"So be it. I had no intentions of letting you three live, anyways."

"The Hell do you think you are? Making threats at gunpoint…" Seppuku responded loudly.

Surprisingly, Seppuku wasn't the one to open fire on Gazelle, rather Chiya was. Earl began to fire shortly after she started, in response, Gazelle covered himself with his massive shoulder pad and continued to back away. Seppuku raised his weapon again and gritted his teeth, but then noticed something off the corner of his eye. Up on one of the moving assembly lines stood an active Death Soldier, holding a rifle with a brightly glowing scope. Seppuku gasped, and instead of firing at Gazelle with his high powered assault rifle, he leapt towards his companions and knocked them down.

Chiya and Earl were both knocked down roughly and slid against one of the factory machines. A mere second after doing this, a laser bolt struck down where Earl had been standing. Earl immediately got on his rear and gasped. Seppuku grabbed Chiya and forced her onto her rear.

"Ambush!"

Another Death Soldier was standing on a moving line, taking aim at the three. The bot's accuracy was greatly affected off of the fact that the line was forcing him to move left. Disorganized, the three split up. Seppuku ended up running towards the door Gazelle had departed through, while Chiya and Earl rounded the factory machine to take better cover.

Seppuku took a shot at the Death Soldier and immediately struck its knee. While not a lethal hit, the robot was indeed knocked off of the line. A slight explosion pursued the crashing of the robot after hitting the ground roughly. Seppuku quickly turned his head and spotted Chiya and Earl hiding behind a wall. More Death Soldiers stood from the moving lines, thus intensifying the situation.

Chiya began to fire her weapon up towards a Death Soldier. Because of her red laser, she was able to hit the robot with easy precision. Earl was focusing on their right flank, it had quickly become obvious to both of them that the Death Soldiers were attacking from above.

Just as Chiya stopped firing, Seppuku leapt between the two and grabbed Earl's shoulder, "Bendek, they're coming from the assembly lines."

Earl opened his mouth to respond, but the door Gazelle fled through had suddenly opened. Immediately, an immense amount of Death Soldiers came spewing out with weapons already equipped. Seppuku grunted and redirected his attention to the door.

"Flower! You focus on the left assembly lines, Bendek, right lines."

Without hearing a response, Seppuku began to grind through the incoming Death Soldiers with blazing rounds. Chiya was without a target, but Earl had now begun to fire up towards his line. Each shot Seppuku made blazed straight through the forehead of any Death Soldier he aimed for. This was a special assault rifle granted to him by Lily Flyer, the rounds it used had special penetration effects and would instantly fry any circuit the bullet flew through.

Seeing as to how there was no Death Soldiers present to their left, Chiya swiftly turned and began to fire at the swarming robots as well. Seppuku quickly shoved her and gritted his teeth.

"I've got it! You watch the left side!"

Chiya looked back up and widened her eyes, a new batch of robots had suddenly appeared to their left. She gritted her teeth and proceeded to fire upward. Earl finished his batch of Death Soldiers and began to tremble in fear of the situation they were in. Seppuku had successfully laid down every single approaching Death Soldier that was attacking from the ground level, so he joined in with Chiya on assaulting the left side. For whatever the reason, the Death Soldiers were beginning to stockpile on the left side.

"Bendek, they keep coming from the left now."

"None are coming from my end!"

Seppuku ducked his head down and gritted his teeth somewhat nervously, the amount of Death Soldiers on the left line were beginning to overpower the three. A laser had quickly come down at the three, but Chiya backed away in time.

"Seppuku! That laser-"

"I'm on it!"

As a final resort, Seppuku took steady aim at one of support beams holding the line up. Seppuku quickly fired constantly sloppy shots up towards the line, successfully, he snapped one of the beams. All Death Soldiers suddenly found themselves slipping off of the assembly line as it broke and slanted. Sparks flew in the air before the assembly line began to spew out unfinished Death Soldiers onto the floor.

Chiya widened her eyes, but was interrupted from her train of thought as Seppuku grabbed both adults and forced them onto their feet.

"Come on! Through the door!"

Seppuku leapt into the center of the logo once again and ran through the many downed Death Soldier bodies. Chiya and Earl followed him closely and were scanning the area for further attacks. It appeared that this section of the factory was clear.

Instead of waiting for the door to slide open, Seppuku kicked the door down and aimed his weapon. As expected, Death Soldiers were through the door standing around what appeared to be a communication center. Oddly enough, the Death Soldiers all appeared to be focused on something else in the room.

Seppuku, Chiya, and Earl all opened fire on the bots. In return, many of the Death Soldiers began to panic and express confusion. Without a struggle, the three gunned down every robot in sight, but something startling had suddenly come up that left even Seppuku shocked. From within the room, another gun could be heard firing.

Chiya got behind Seppuku and calmly grasped his oxygen tank, "Seppuku! I hear regular gunshots!"

"Me too…"

One final Death Soldier dropped, and just like that, the next room was clear. The three hadn't even entered the center of the room, and the danger was already seemingly vacant. Seppuku and Chiya scanned the area cautiously, preparing for any surprise attack. Earl grasped Seppuku's oxygen tank as well and pointed past his shoulder.

"Seppuku, master computer ahead."

Both Chiya and Seppuku turned their heads, but Seppuku was the only one to express pure excitement, "Excellent!"

Indeed this was what appeared to be the master computer. Seppuku had found much more in the factory than he expected to, but overall, his mission remained the same. He had come primarily to collect a new lead on Black Shadow's location.

"We just need to eject its hard drive."

Chiya tapped his shoulder and nodded, "Let's get it and leave!"

"Agreed, I'll deal with Gazelle later…"

The three proceeded to sprint across the room towards the flashing computer. Seppuku appeared more determined than any of the three, Chiya and Earl were both anxious to simply get out of the factory. Seppuku was beginning to outrun the two, he flexed his fingers excitedly and licked his lips. Jumping over one final Death Soldier corpse, he made a final leap towards the massive computer-but at that moment, a figure leapt in front of the computer and did just as Seppuku planned to do.

Everyone gasped, and Seppuku was forced to come to an abrupt stop behind the figure. The figure held the hard drive up, revealing a golden glove. Seppuku grunted and stomped his foot down.

"Wh- what!?"

The blue figure turned his head slowly, revealing a familiar face. Chiya widened her eyes and came to a stop beside Seppuku. With a specialized breathing unit covering his mouth, Captain Falcon slipped the hard drive into his bag and holstered his handgun.

"Falcon!" Seppuku shouted before scowling.

Chiya and Earl were both left jaw dropped in shock by the random meet up. Captain Falcon merely tilted his head towards Seppuku.

"Seppuku," he greeted calmly.

"Captain Falcon, what are you doing here!?" Chiya asked with glossy eyes.

Captain Falcon turned towards Seppuku, "I followed you here."

"Congrats, you stalker. Now, hand over the hard drive!"

"I can't do that. I'm afraid that this is where your journey ends."

"What!?"

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "Hey, come on. We worked hard to get here."

Seppuku poked Captain Falcon's chest and grinded his sharp teeth, "What do you mean by that, Falcon?"

Backing away from Seppuku, Captain Falcon shook negatively, "You and I may be on the same team. But we have completely different motives for wanting Black Shadow dead. I simply can't let you get to him before I do…"

"What the Hell are you talking about!?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at Captain Falcon, "Yeah, what are you talking about? We're trying to save the universe, what's your motive?"

"He just wants to collect that damn bounty on his head!"

Captain Falcon swiped his arm forth swiftly, "No! I want Black Shadow dead-for justice. Seppuku just wants him dead in order to enact the ultimate revenge!" Chiya grunted and slowly looked up at Seppuku, "He doesn't care if Dark Million is destroyed. He just wants to see Black Shadow suffer! That is not how we must approach this conflict."

"Seppuku, is this true?" asked Chiya.

Seppuku made no attempt to respond, rather, he simply gave Captain Falcon a dead stare. Chiya's eyes began to quiver softly, Earl quirked his mouth and raised an eyebrow at Seppuku. A brief silence occurred, but Chiya broke it by clapping her hands towards Captain Falcon.

"But that's not true. You're after Black Shadow seeking revenge too."

"What are you talking about?"

Seppuku and Earl both looked at Chiya, she puckered her lips and grasped her waist, "You want Black Shadow dead to avenge your father, correct?" Captain Falcon's lip immediately dropped, "He killed your father right in front of you, and that was why you initially wanted him dead, right?"

"…how did you know that..?" he asked silently in disbelief.

"My, blood sister told me everything…"

Seppuku smirked and nodded, "Yeah, she's right. You're just a damn hypocrite. So hand over the hard drive, or at the very least share its contents with me."

"You and I are the only ones who can bring down Black Shadow. I'll be sure to reveal his location to you once I acquire such information, but not until I'm on my way to kill him myself."

Seppuku cracked his knuckles, "You damn greedy bastard, we should confront him as a team…"

Reaching into his bag, Captain Falcon pulled out a time bomb and handed it to Seppuku, "Not happening, but if you really want to help Jody and I, you can blow this place up."

"Oh, of course! You're working with Jody, now it all makes sense!"

Captain Falcon leapt up onto a nearby balcony and gave them the Falcon Salute, "Thank you very much, Lieutenant. I'll be sure to give you a call if I find anything. Well, after I take off to confront him."

Full of rage, Seppuku held his assault rifle up, "You bastard! This isn't over!"

Unfortunately, it was over. Captain Falcon had dashed off of the balcony and left the area with superhuman speed. Seppuku lowered his assault rifle and stomped his foot down loudly.

"Holy mother of Hell! See!? See?! Now do you see why I hate him!?"

Earl quirked his mouth, "From a certain standpoint, he was kind of an asshole there. On the other hand, he is trying to save the universe…"

Chiya closed her eyes in irritation, "To think, that I just had a dream about him and Earl making out the other night…"

The three stood by the disabled computer with little left to say. The hard drive that most likely contained all the information they could need was now within Captain Falcon's possession. Despite the fact that Captain Falcon was a superhero with the exact same mission, Chiya couldn't help but feel crushed. They had worked so hard, just for another hero to come in and put their efforts to waste. Winning the Grand Prix would make Chiya rich, but collecting Black Shadow's bounty would make her so rich, that she could make her future children rich. Naturally, however, failing wasn't in Seppuku's to-do list.

Looking up, Seppuku found a massive staircase leading to a door. Just off the top of his head, he could tell that this would lead up to the dome section of the factory. He hummed slowly while staring at the door.

"Bloody Hell, I was so certain that this would be our big breakthrough…"

Seppuku equipped his weapon and took a step onto the staircase, Chiya and Earl both turned towards him and raised their eyebrows. Upon taking a step, Seppuku found that the staircase became an escalator. The two approached the escalator with puzzled looks.

"Seppuku? What are you doing?" asked Earl.

"We're not done yet. I know one more way we can get the information we need, but we'll need to acquire it through violent means…"

The two stepped onto the escalator, Earl closed his eyes and grinned, "What do you think we've been doing this entire time?"

Mighty Gazelle was standing in the center of an administrative section of the factory. Computer consoles surrounded him, all displaying error messages about the missing hard drive. Gazelle understood that Seppuku had succeeded in stopping the production of Death Soldiers, but he was still determined to stop Seppuku from crashing his plan to take over Dark Million.

The entrance door was kicked open, and the three immediately made their way into the large room. Chiya and Earl were initially shocked by the many computers that surrounded them. Seppuku disregarded all of this and stepped forth with a smirk on his face, as he spotted the lone cyborg.

"Show's over, Gazelle. You're going to tell me everything you know about Black Shadow's location, or I'm going to turn you into a cup holder…"

Chiya and Earl took aim at the cyborg, but Seppuku remained standing in an authoritative stance. Gazelle didn't bother turning towards the three, he remained absolutely still with his head dipped down. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at him impatiently.

"You seek information on Dark Million. Knowledge, that I do possess..."

"Good, cause we're kind of in a hurry with this next race coming up and all."

Gazelle raised his head slowly, "For long, Lieutenant Seppuku and Chiya Flower, have you two been thorns in my side. You caused me to lose the Grand Prix both years, you raided my ship, and you have caused my F-Zero reputation to decline steadily. Had I never met you two, I very well may have succeeded in my plans for an Aeropolian empire…"

Chiya held her hand out with a smile, "Gazelle, if you can find it in your heart to forgive and forget, we can all be winners." She blinked a few times with an optimistic expression, "Join us, and help us topple Dark Million."

"Oh, but that will be quite impossible…" Gazelle said in a much deeper tone. Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes upon hearing the sudden low pitched voice, "You three have attempted to thwart what could only be seen as a blessing upon humanity. My empire would solve all issues, yet, you three threaten my plan…" he said in an even deeper tone.

Seppuku held his assault rifle up, "Cyborg, be cool…"

Finally, Gazelle raised his head up, "I've tried to reason with you three. But in conclusion, I have only come up with one practical solution to my dilemma. If you will not support me in my quest…" Gazelle slowly turned his entire body. His eyes were glowing bright red, and his arms had been replaced with two massive vulcan cannons. He raised his cannons up and took aim at the three, "You must be terminated."

Everyone gasped, and within a split second, Gazelle had begun to fire hundreds of massive slug shells. Seppuku had grabbed his companions just in time and threw them aside, in which he then threw himself aside. Gazelle moved one of his vulcan arms towards Chiya and Earl, and one arm at Seppuku. A trail of bullets followed the three as they ran in desperation for cover. The trail of bullets were very close to Chiya, but Earl was forcing her to move at a much faster pace. Fortunately, the two were able to jump behind a massive computer console for cover. Seppuku, however, was left to flee from the slugs.

Gazelle brought both cannons together and began to spray towards Seppuku with maximum effect. Ordinarily, the average human would be dead. Seppuku was fortunate to have superhuman speed, and was therefore able to sprint around the dome faster than Gazelle could turn.

"You claim that I am evil, but in reality, it is only the ones who threaten the idea of harmony who can be so!"

Seppuku did a quick slide next to Chiya and Earl, he got down onto his knees and gritted his teeth. Chiya and Earl were both on the ground holding each other, Chiya appeared as if she were about to start crying. Understanding that the two were behind the computer, Gazelle began to grind through the thick metal with his cannons.

"Seppuku! I'm scared!"

He patted her back and threw his arm into the air, pointing towards the door, "You two, get the Hell out of here. I'll distract him!"

"But what about you!?" panicked Earl.

"If I'm not back at the entrance in five minutes, I want you two to leave without me!"

"No!" Chiya argued loudly.

"Dammit, woman! This isn't the time and place to argue! Just get out while you still can!"

The bullets had finally penetrated all the way through the thick computer, now beginning to go through the back. Seppuku grabbed his assault rifle and made a swift leap away from the computer. Gazelle turned his head towards Seppuku and drew his cannon's sight in front of his body, hoping to shoot him from the front.

"There will be no further compromising!" Gazelle lectured deeply.

"That much is clear!" said Seppuku.

Chiya and Earl took up the opportunity and made a break for the door while Gazelle's back was turned. In order to give the two more time, Seppuku did a sudden back flip and began to run the other direction. Seppuku was practically dancing as he ran, Gazelle's bullets were landing both behind and in front of his feet. Even one as calm headed as Seppuku now found himself in a nerve-wracking situation.

The two had safely escaped from the dome, but Seppuku was left with a destined duel with the universe's most advanced cyborg-and apparently most deadly. The entire dome was becoming filled with the smoke of Gazelle's weapon. Seppuku managed to save his friends, but now he needed a plan of action to save himself.

To his complete surprise, the door to the dome opened once more. Chiya popped her foot through the door with Earl struggling to hold her back. In a desperate attempt to help Seppuku, Chiya took a few shots at Gazelle.

"Gah!" the cyborg shouted.

Earl had then forced Chiya away from the door, leaving Seppuku and Gazelle alone once more. Chiya's bullets had landed in his back, which caused him to stop firing one of his cannons. He turned his right hand towards the door in confusion. With only one trail of bullets following Seppuku, he found this a better time than ever to make a move.

Using superhuman speed, he leapt up into the center and held his assault rifle up as a melee weapon. Gazelle turned towards him at the last second, but was then whacked across the face. His visor immediately cracked, and an entire metal fragment had flown off of his face. Grabbing Gazelle's left arm, Seppuku bent it with great strength. Gazelle's left arm was now completely dented and could no longer be used efficiently. Seppuku reached for the other arm, but was hit across the face by Gazelle's other vulcan cannon arm. Seppuku fell to the ground, and Gazelle wasted no time in beating him with the barrel of his weapon. Seppuku grunted loudly and wrapped his arm around the other cannon. In a desperate attempt to shake Seppuku, Gazelle began to blow more slugs off of the cannon. Unfortunately for Gazelle, Seppuku snapped the barrel of the cannon off.

Seppuku now had a cracked visor, just as Gazelle did. Throwing off both vulcan cannon attachments, Gazelle grasped Seppuku by the throat and held him up. Despite being strangled, Seppuku found the strength to wrap his legs around Gazelle's head and kick him down. Both men fell, but Gazelle was quick on his feet and got back up to kick Seppuku's body.

Before Seppuku had the opportunity to get up, Gazelle grabbed him and chucked him towards a computer with his one working arm. Sparks flew as Seppuku's face hit the screen, more cracks had formed on his visor. Seppuku spun around and threw a heavy punch straight against Gazelle's chest, instantly snapping his breastplate off. What almost sounded like a gasp was quickly released from Gazelle as his wiring was now exposed.

Before Seppuku would punch again, Seppuku was knocked down with a blunt smack on the shoulder. His body was slammed down onto the ground, leaving Gazelle to clench his fist tightly. Realizing that this punch was going straight for Seppuku's visor, he had to act quick. The punch was thrown, but Seppuku grabbed his hand just before making impact with the glass. Gazelle gradually began to exert power down into his one working arm, trying desperately to break Seppuku's hand and puncture his visor. A damaged visor would mean no oxygen, which would leave him dead no matter what.

Both men struggled to kill one another, both locking hands in a contested fight. Gazelle was slowly beginning to get an upper hand over Seppuku, but there was one thing he didn't account for-and that was Seppuku's other hand.

Gazelle's red eyes flickered constantly as he tried with all of his might to win the battle, but with one simple blast of a vulcan cannon, Gazelle's eyes dilated. Immediately, his grasp of Seppuku went soft. His chest now had a gaping hole going through the center. In front of his chest, was the smoking vulcan cannon that Seppuku was now holding. Dropping his arms in defeat, Gazelle made several grunting noises and collapsed onto the floor.

Seppuku immediately exhaled in relief and got on his rear. His visor now had several cracks, but ultimately would hold.

"That, was too close of a battle for a damn cyborg to give…"

Chiya and Earl were waiting at the entrance door with nervous looks. Earl was moving back and forth while biting his lip, but Chiya was on the floor breathing heavily. Neither of the two knew when to give up on Seppuku, and quite frankly, they didn't want to give up. Despite the fact that five minutes had passed, both were determined to see Seppuku again.

"God dammit, this was far too dangerous of a mission for even Seppuku…"

"Y- yeah…" Chiya responded with heavy breathing.

To their great surprise, however, the sliding door to the factory was kicked open. The left part of the door flew a few meters in the air, Seppuku immediately rushed towards the two with his assault rifle within his grasp. Earl exhaled excitedly and clapped his hands together, Chiya smiled faintly at him.

"Alright, let's get the Hell out of here!"

Earl nodded, "Did you prime the bomb?"

"Yeah."

Chiya looked up at him and inhaled heavily once more, "I'm glad to see you made it…"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at Chiya, Earl had only just taken notice of Chiya's heavy breathing. She wrapped her arms around her knees and exhaled inhaled once more.

"Flower, are you suddenly sick?"

"No, no…" she stood up and inhaled, "I just need to get out of this factory, and get some air…"

Seppuku and Earl exchanged glances. Earl softly grabbed her arm, "Chiya, there is no air."

Just as Earl said this, the answer had become obvious to Seppuku as she turned. He grunted loudly and took a step back in disbelief. The two looked at him curiously, Chiya dropped her head against Earl's shoulder and grunted softly.

"God dammit, Flower, what the Hell happened!?"

"…what..?"

Seppuku quickly grabbed her and spun her around. Earl's eyes immediately widened as Seppuku held up a now separated oxygen tube. There was a slight burn on the trimming, which made it obvious to both of them what had happened.

"Chiya, one of your oxygen tubes got shot!"

Chiya gasped and turned her head, but she couldn't see this for herself. Earl began to panic loudly and flap his hands, "O- oh God, we need to get back to the ship!"

Seppuku growled immensely and clenched his fists, "She'll never make it back to that ship with what she has left…" he stomped his foot down loudly and growled more loudly, "Dammit, why didn't you-"

Chiya spun around with a frantic look and grabbed his shoulders, "Seppuku, help me! I don't want to die!"

Both Chiya and Earl were greatly panicking. Seppuku looked back and forth between the two, thinking desperately of a way to get out of this situation. With one tube separated, half of the oxygen in the tank was being wasted. Considering how long the tube may have been cut, Chiya very well could be down to mere seconds.

Out of desperation, Seppuku saw only one way out of this. He lowered his rifle and took aim at his left oxygen tube. Earl widened his eyes and reached towards Seppuku, "No, wait!"

Seppuku blew his left oxygen tube apart, now causing much oxygen to blow out of his tank as well. Chiya gasped and widened her eyes at him. Earl grunted and shook negatively. Finally, Seppuku grabbed the separated tube connecting to his tank, and forced it inside of the separated tube that was stuck to Chiya's helmet.

"I had to sacrifice one of my tubes, so that she can continue breathing."

Chiya breathed in heavily, then exhaled in relief as she managed to get a more decent breath in. Earl nodded swiftly at him, "So now we'll run back to the ship, right?"

"Wrong." Both Chiya and Earl returned shocked looks, Seppuku growled softly, "If Chiya and I start to run, we'll use up more oxygen by panting. Besides, now I'm losing my oxygen at a fast rate as well. We could both be dead in mere minutes now."

Chiya began to panic loudly once more, Earl grabbed Seppuku's shoulders and grunted loudly, "Well God dammit, what do we do!?"

Seppuku slapped his shoulder, "You need to run like the wind. Get back to the ship, and land it here near the entrance."

"But-"

"There's no buts about it! If you don't do it, we're going to suffocate on this damn rock!"

"Earl!" Chiya panicked.

"Okay, okay, okay!" he quickly turned around and faced the large hills that separated them from the ship, "I'll go get the ship and bring it right away!"

Without another word, Earl darted away at full speed. Seppuku tightly grasped the tube that was keeping Chiya alive. She lowered her eyebrows fearfully and gritted her teeth. Seppuku lowered his eyebrows and gritted his teeth nervously as well.

"Seppuku, I'm really scared!"

"Have faith in him. He's our last chance…"

Earl leapt onto the hill and dug his fingers deep into the soil. He had a very nervous expression as he began to climb the tall hill. Climbing up the hill previously took awhile, but now he had an adrenaline rush and was moving at a much quicker pace. His spacesuit was instantly covered in dirt, and a great sweat had formed over his forehead.

Chiya was bouncing up and down frantically as she watched Earl climb from a distance. She was amazed by the speed of his climbing, but was far too frightened by the situation at hand to speak up about this. Seppuku lowered his eyebrows and quirked his mouth as Earl reached the top only seconds later. He clearly didn't hesitate, as his body disappeared completely moments later.

"I- I wonder what it feels like to die from lack of oxygen…"

"Don't talk like that. If you scare yourself, you'll hyperventilate, and if you hyperventilate, we'll lose even more air!"

Chiya's eyes began to quiver immensely at him, and unfortunately, he had jinxed the situation. He grunted as Chiya began to hyperventilate loudly and bounce once again.

"For God sakes, Flower. That man would do anything to protect you, don't you have faith that he can run half a mile back to the ship for you?"

Chiya stopped hyperventilating and swallowed nervously, "H- he would do anything for me, I just know it…"

About four minutes later, Earl came rushing towards the ship panting. He hadn't stopped running since he got off of the hill, the climbing being the only part of the rush that he wasn't running. He had made it to the ship, but just as Seppuku had lectured on about, he came across one irritation. The loading ramp was closed up.

"Oh for the love of-"

He ducked and ran under the ship, as he had to reach the entrance. He knocked his head trying to reach for the button that would open the door, but fortunately, his thick helmet protected him. The door opened, Earl leapt inside of the ship and immediately slammed it shut manually. He threw off his gloves and helmet while running into the bridge, and without sitting down, he powered on the ship.

Chiya and Seppuku were kneeling down on the floor together, Seppuku could now feel a major decline in his oxygen level. Chiya was still breathing fairly normally, but Seppuku was living off of one oxygen tube. Chiya was now silent, but she was trapped having bad thoughts about what might happen. Seppuku turned towards her and shook negatively.

"Hey, relax. I'm sure he'll be here any minute…"

She nodded, "At least we're a fair distance away from the bomb…"

A loud grunt had been provoked out of Seppuku, as he had not thought about this. He immediately found himself beginning to tremble somewhat.

"On second thought, maybe we should start walking away from the factory…"

Just after saying this, the loud sound of a ship lowering down to the ground could be heard. Both Chiya and Seppuku bobbed their heads up in surprise and stood up. The ship landed just in front of the factory. Seppuku exhaled loudly in relief, while Chiya began to chuckle proudly. The loading ramp hit the ground, and the door slowly began to open. Earl knelt down with widened eyes, desperate to see if his companions were still alive. Fortunately, both had already climbed onto the loading ramp.

Seppuku released the tube from Chiya's helmet and pushed her under the opening door. He momentarily got down and crawled inside of the ship as well. Before the door could even open, Earl had closed it.

The first thing Chiya did was throw her helmet off of her head and breathe in heavily. She widened her eyes and exhaled, then closed her eyes with a relieved smile.

"I will forever look upon trees as life's greatest miracle…"

The ship had left the atmosphere minutes later, and the massive fireball explosion behind them could be seen where Gazelle's factory used to stand. Their mission had come to an end, and fortunately, everyone came out alright. However, Seppuku's day was not over…

Chiya was hugging both Mauser and Siberia tightly on the couch, "I love you kitties so much, so much!"

Seppuku smirked at her from the kitchen, but his smirk soon disappeared as the inevitable had entered the room. Full of fury, Earl entered the living room and cracked his knuckles. Seppuku turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. Ever since Port Town, the relationship of Seppuku and Earl had only been getting better, but all in one simple mission, Earl's attitude towards Seppuku had drastically changed.

"Seppuku! What did I tell you!?" he scolded loudly.

Chiya turned around and widened her eyes, sensing an argument coming along.

Seppuku lowered his eyebrows, "I dunno."

"I strictly instructed you to keep Chiya safe. What the Hell happened down there? Why did she almost die of suffocation?"

"Oh boy…" Chiya muttered nervously.

"What the Hell are you yelling at me for? It's not my fault a stray laser hit her tube."

Earl poked his chest and growled, "I was under the assumption that you would keep both of us safe. If a laser hit her tube, it must have come pretty damn close to hitting her across the skull!"

"I had that under control. I only panicked at first because I didn't know what to do off the top of my head. If I could have made an alteration to the plan, I would have deep coated those tubes with bulletproof covering."

Earl flailed his arms angrily, "Maybe Captain Falcon was right-"

"Maybe you're just blaming everyone but yourself, again!"

Chiya approached the two and waved her hands negatively, "Come on, guys. We should be celebrating, not fighting!"

"What do you mean by that, Seppuku?"

He growled at him, "Don't you get it? I'm not Chiya's hero, you are! I certainly shouldn't be her hero!" he poked Earl across the nose, "As her protector, you should always be aware of the possible outcomes of such a mission. You knew that this oxygen tank was all that kept her from suffocating, so you should have been watching it with your life…"

Earl exhaled and nodded, "Okay, maybe I should have been keeping closer attention on Chiya's oxygen tank. Given, I wasn't even paying attention to my own. But why wasn't enough enough? Why did we have to waste more time on Gazelle?"

"Just shut the Hell up, Bendek. It's over, let's just put this all behind-"

Seppuku was then swiftly punched across the face by Earl, who was now beyond aggravated.

"Earl!" Chiya lectured.

Seppuku growled and threw a punch across Earl's face in response.

"Seppuku!"

The two got in combat stances and proceeded to growl at one another. Mauser and Siberia were both watching the action go down. Earl held up his fists and growled more viciously.

Chiya flailed her arms in the air, "Guys! That's enough!" Earl and Seppuku looked over at her. She eyed both of them with a distressed look, then smiled desperately, "Why are you fighting a war over me? Is it not obvious who's fault this really was?"

Seppuku cracked his knuckles, "Bat…"

"No!"

"Mighty Gazelle?" asked Earl.

"N- well, I guess…" she shook negatively and smiled at the two, "Guys, it's my fault that my oxygen tank was hit. Okay?" Earl and Seppuku looked at each other a bit more calmly, "I greatly appreciate that I have a superhero friend who's looking after me, and an amazing boyfriend who would take a bullet for me. But for Heaven's sake, does that mean I'm incapable of making my own mistakes?"

Earl lowered his eyelids and sighed, "Well, I guess neither of us were being very attentive then…"

Seppuku nodded, "I suppose that's true…"

Chiya closed her eyes and exhaled happily, "Thank you…"

"Well, it does suck that this trip was meaningless, aside from the fact that we shut down the production of Death Soldiers."

"Oh, but not necessarily, Earl…" Chiya and Earl looked up at Seppuku and widened their eyes, he held up a portable computer device and smirked, "Before I fried Gazelle's circuits, I picked this off of a surviving computer in that dome…"

"What is it?" asked Chiya.

"Who knows? But if I had to guess, important data, considering it was up in Gazelle's area."

Earl exhaled and nodded, "Well, by all means, let's look into that. But with all due respect, I think Chiya and I are done for now…"

"Done?"

Chiya wrapped her arm around Earl and nodded happily, "Yeah, I think we've had enough adventure. With any luck, you'll find Black Shadow with that thing, but if you just find another lead, I think we'll just sit out." Seppuku lowered his eyebrows, "I hope this doesn't offend you…"

Seppuku quirked his mouth, then smirked and shrugged, "Not at all. As I said, you took down Blaskovitz, that's all I wanted. Everything else up to this point has been mere volunteer work." He got a hostile look on his face and crossed his arms, "Volunteer work-meaning, I'm not paying you two."

From within the burning remains of the factory, several Death Soldiers crawled for their life. Every few seconds surviving munitions would explode, almost creating the sound of popcorn. There wasn't a single Death Soldier left undamaged, rendering them all useless to Black Shadow.

Deep into the collapsed structure, rubble began to shake violently. Through various bits of stone, metal, dirt, and computer pieces, a charred metal hand reached out of the rubble. The hand had very damaged wiring, and any metal surrounding the hand was now as black as charcoal. The hand continued to reach into the air, the fingers locked together, thus making a clenched fist.

A fist that Seppuku had undoubtedly not seen the last of…

To be continued…