Lap 02

I Relive the Past

I gotta tell ya, I was excited about going to the "Falcon House" the next day. Sam would be there and she had finally started talking to me. I happened to wake up at around 11 the next day and proceeded with my daily routine as usual. Shower, eat breakfast, pet Aunt DJ's cat named Muffins and go to the gym. Muffins didn't want me to leave the house as usual and kept pawing at my hand and meowing at me as if to say "Stay and pet me!" Seeing as I had time before I had to go to work again, I decided to visit Roy at his garage after the gym. Roy turned out to be a gifted mechanic with the GSF and spent most of his time nowadays fixing up GSF ships, regular citizens' vehicles or even an F-Zero machine. I've seen him fix up the machine of our old family friend Dr. Robert Stewart. When I arrived at Roy's garage, I saw the yellow F-Zero machine in there once again and Roy was doing some routine maintenance on the underside of it. He hadn't noticed me arrive and I took advantage of this by walking over to the machine and smacking the top of it real hard. Roy jumped and smacked his head on the machine's undercarriage.

"OW! WHAT GIVES!" I heard him yell.

"Gooooood morning Elroy!" I responded. Roy rolled out from under the machine with an angry look on his face. Even at the age of 25, he still hated when people called him Eloy but I could get away with it. His face stopped being angry when he saw me.

"Dude, uncool. Scaring me like that" Roy said, getting up from his hovering mechanic's creeper and gave me a bro hug.

"Couldn't resist mate," I responded. Roy was the same height as I was and just as well built. He wasn't as overweight as I was back in school but he definitely wasn't this muscular. He had a rugged look to him as he was a mechanic and a GSF officer. Sporting short brown hair with a small chin goatee. He was wearing a mechanics jumpsuit but I saw that his trademark brown leather jacket was hanging on a hook nearby.

"What brings you here?" Roy said, putting his tools away and grabbing a drink.

"I had some time before work. Figured I'd drop in on you and potentially Lisa, that is if she's here." I said and looked around the garage.

"Yeah she is, you could probably guess Dr. Stewart is as well. She's talking to him about...you know…" Roy said and his face fell slightly. Roy had recently been freaking out about his girlfriend's pregnancy not because he wasn't a bad person or had no money. Nah, he just thought he wasn't going to be a good father.

"Dude, how many times have I told you to relax about that? You 2 are going to be great parents. Did I or did I not call this back in junior year of college when you met her? I said 'you're going to marry that girl'" I said, clapping Roy on the back. Roy smiled at me. We'd been best friends since pre-k so he always valued my input before most others. Even his own parents...who were alive.

"Speaking of marriage..." Roy said and glanced around the garage. Satisfied that Lisa was still speaking with Dr. Stewart, he walked over to his jacket and pulled out a small box with a ring in it. My eyes widened.

"Nice man. Have you thought about how you're going to do it?" I asked. Roy nodded and pointed over to the other machine in the garage that I hadn't really noticed. It was another F-Zero machine. It resembled an old speedboat from the 21st century with wings out to the side and a "dorsal fin" on top of where the thrusters are. The words "Red Gazelle" were painted on either side of it near the very front. There was a large "01" painted on each of the wings. I must have looked confused because Roy said

"F-Zero man. Special order from Cyber Stick Inc. Cost a couple thousand credits but I plan to pay it off within a few months. Payments on it are cheap anyway. I'm going to join the next circuit and once I win, I'm going to propose to her right there on the winners podium" he said proudly. He must have been planning this for months. That thing looked expensive.

"Don't get your hopes up just because the Committee gave you the number 1," a male voice said. Roy and I turned to see Dr. Stewart walking towards us with Roy's girlfriend. Roy hastily hid the ring back in his jacket but I didn't think Lisa noticed. Dr. Stewart was a middle aged man in his 40s wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a red ascot. His hair was brown and he usually had it styled to his right side. Guy was a gifted surgeon too. Lisa was dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket. She reminded me of those old photos of people from the 1990s but with a lot more neon and less angst. Lisa may have looked scary but she was very nice. I could tell she was pregnant and pretty far along, about 3-4 months if I were to guess but I'm no doctor.

"Hey Doc, how's it going?" I said to Dr. Stewart. He had known my dad and Aunt DJ from school so I knew the guy for basically my entire life. He had attended my parents' funeral.

"Greetings Andy, what brings you here?" he asked me.

"Oh you know, seeing if Elroy here is working hard or hardly working" I said as Roy scowled at me.

"Going back to what you said Roy, don't get cocky with these F-Zero races. They can be very dangerous. A lot of these people are out for blood." Dr Stewart said to Roy. Lisa tensed.

"I still don't think it's a good idea baby, you have a child on the way. What if you get hurt?" she said to him. Roy took both of her hands in his.

"I'll be fine honey, I had this thing custom built for exactly my preferred control. Andy and I have had a lot of practice piloting F-Zero machines," Roy said and it was my turn to scowl. There was one absolutely BANANAS night back in college where Roy and I had indeed had a bit too much to drink and had taken some older F-Zero machines on a joy ride in the abandoned part of Port Town. I don't recommend doing this kids. Don't drink and pilot a 2 ton hunk of metal that can reach a top speed of Mach 1. I had found out that I was particularly skilled at piloting one, even if I had never done so in my life. I had just jumped into one of the machines (no I don't recall what it looked like, I was a tad tipsy remember?), punched a few buttons and flicked a few switches and before I knew it, there I was out pacing Roy and pulling maneuvers that even the most skilled F-Zero pilots had trouble doing. I recall Roy shouted that I had done something called a "Momentum Turbo Slide" absolutely flawlessly. Every now and then, I mosey on down to the old GSF impound lot and take some of the machines for a spin with Roy. What? He works for them so technically, we're not doing anything wrong.

"You mean that little adventure you morons had in college? You don't remember how mad I was when both of you came home?" Lisa said very angrily. Both of us winced. Yes….yes we did. Sobered us up real quick I tell you what.

"Lisa, he'll be fine. Many precautions have been taken since you all were kids, watching Captain Falcon beat all of us with little to no effort. That's why I'm having Roy here make some adjustments to the Golden Fox. My father's old design, while good, is a tad outdated. You haven't been trying to sabotage me have you Roy?" Dr. Stewart asked. Roy shook his head while I rolled my eyes at Dr. Stewart's Captain Falcon comment. He had a quizzical look on his face as he watched me do so.

"Anyway, I'll be against Roy tomorrow. The top 10 advance to the next race. Been taking a little longer than the old days. The Committee must be running background checks on every racer, but honestly it's for the best" Dr. Stewart continued.

"That won't stop them from letting those Dark Million dudes compete," I muttered. Lisa had heard me and had started going into hysterics. While Lisa proceeded to scold Roy (again) Dr Stewart approached me.

"You thought about joining the Grand Prix Andy? Roy does tell me your piloting skills are top notch and I know you used to love watching the races on TV," he said.

"Once or twice. But I don't want Aunt DJ to worry about me while I race. Plus I don't really have money for a machine of my own anyway," I said. This was true. I did sometimes think about joining the F-Zero Grand Prix but everytime I did, I remembered that horrible crash I witnessed on TV. Captain Falcon had gotten out of it relatively unscathed, that much I remembered but a few people suffered greatly. I will commend Captain Falcon for helping the others after he had gotten out of his own wrecked machine. Dr. Stewart had smiled at me as if he knew something.

"In due time Andy, in due time" he said and went to settle the dispute between Lisa and Roy. I took that as my cue to leave and head to work.

I arrived at the Falcon House pretty much right on time and Sam was already there doing some setup and had heard me walk in.

"Hi Andy," she said, flashing me another of her smiles.

"Hey Sam, how was your day?" I said, pouring myself a glass of water.

"Not bad. Saw my cousin, Yoshio, today. He's doing ok," she answered and leaned up against the bar. I had noticed she was wearing new glasses.

"That's nice, I see that you've got some new frames. They look nice" I said. They did, they complimented her blue eyes quite well. She giggled.

"I thought you'd notice. Thank you Andy," she said and patted my forearm. I nearly melted but still managed to compose myself. I did drop my glass of water on the floor though.

"You're welcome. Ready for tonight? Saturday's are usually pretty busy. They usually broadcast all the big F-Zero Races tonight. I think tonight is the Knight Cup. Novice or Regular Class, can't remember. Anyway, many of the regulars come to see if Captain Falcon has returned to the scene," I said and turned on the TV where Mr. Zero was currently conducting an interview with a wolf-like alien named Leon. Sam must have noticed my tone when I said "Captain Falcon," and she frowned slightly.

"Do you still hate Captain Falcon after all these years?" she asked.

"Not as much as I did originally but still. I do wish he'd helped my parents like he had helped me," I said, leaning up against the back bar and folding my arms. Aunt DJ had looked over at me from across the room and grinned. Sam nodded before she asked me

"That little boy in the photograph over there, wearing the yellow scarf being picked up by DJ, that's you right?" Sam had pointed over to one of the photos on the wall. Sure enough, it was an old family photo of my dad, mom and me at Aunt DJ and Aunt Josslyn's wedding. I was around 6 at the time and Aunt DJ indeed had me in her arms. I think I had just told her how pretty she was in her white dress.

"Yeah, that's me and yes, that is Captain Falcon's scarf. He gave it to me, remember? Lost it years ago," I said staring at the photo, remembering happier times where my parents were alive. Sam looked from the photo to me a few times.

"Hmm, the boy is still cute even years later. How about that?" she said and smirked at me and went to go attend the first arrivals of the night. It was very hard for me to focus on my job after that. My crush for the last few years of my life had finally, FINALLY called me cute.

I wish I could tell you that the night proceeded as normal but remember how I said that the previous night would be the final normal night of my life? It started around 8 when Roy came in with Lisa. She had ceased yelling at him about joining the F-Zero circuit which I was thankful for. They both sat at the semi crowded bar. All of the booths and tables were full. The place could house about 30 people not including the staff.

"Hey guys, what'll it be? Usual? 2 AX Burgers, a Fire Field and plain water?" I asked Roy. Lisa nodded at me.

"Yes, that'll be great," Lisa said and hugged Roy's shoulder. I punched the order in and then addressed Lisa.

"Look, about what I said back there. Dr. Stewart is right. He used to race back then when it was way more dangerous. Yes. Ok, they got those Dark Million guys sometimes but I don't recall them ever trying to sabotage a race intentionally. They try to win with dirty tricks, but they often never work. Been watching them all night. Saw maybe 2 members. Neither of them placed in the top 10," I said to Lisa. Roy had his eyes on the entrance where Aunt Josslyn was and didn't respond.

"I know, it's just the pregnancy getting to me. I just fear for his safet-"

"GET DOWN. BEHIND THE BAR!" Roy suddenly shouted, grabbed Lisa and together they ran behind the bar and ducked under it. I was confused but only for about 5 seconds. I saw what Roy was yelling about almost immediately. 2 men had entered the bar and had started firing guns in the air. Aunt Josslyn was slumped against the wall, dazed and Aunt DJ was next to her, shielding her body from the 2 men. One of the men had a bad limp and the other had a nose that looked like it had been smashed against the wall one too many times. The entire restaurant went silent.

"Well look at this? A full house!" the limping guy said. His voice was deep...and also very familiar.

"Outstanding! This would be a perfect place to draw that lousy Captain Falcon out of hiding," the guy with the busted nose said. His voice was also familiar but I couldn't place it. Then he pulled out a knife and I remembered who these guys were. Javic and Kody Velleman. The guys who had attacked my teacher when I was 5.

"Hey Jav, look over there," Kody said and pointed at a middle aged woman sitting with her family at a table nearby. My eyes followed his finger and saw...Miss Lily? I didn't even know that she ate at this place. Then again, Captain Falcon had saved her life on at least one occasion. Javic's mouth opened in a wide smile as he recognized Miss Lily. He even licked his finger and brushed it across his eyebrows. Kody started pointing his rifle at the customers, daring any of them to make a move.

"Well well well. Hello again Lily. But what's this? You have gotten rid of my special little tattoo I gave you? Dear me, that won't do," Javic said. He walked over and grabbed Lily by her neck again. Her husband and children tried to protest but Kody fired a warning shot over their heads and they stopped. Lily flailed against Javic's grip but he was still too strong for her.

"How perfect is this K? We bust out of prison and find our old friend in Captain Falcon's diner. It's perfect," Javic said and went to press the knife into Lily's face again. This was where I sprung into action. I grabbed an empty glass and threw it at Javic's head. It shattered and he dropped Lily who ran back to her husband. Roy was looking at me in utter astonishment. Kody had turned to face me but I had already front flipped over the bar and gave him a roundhouse kick to the face. It must have been the fact that I was so angry at these 2 men that I swore I saw little embers around my leg as I kicked Kody. Unfortunately, he didn't go down in one kick like before. He had dropped his gun which was helpful. It skidded across the floor and came to rest at Aunt Josslyn's feet. Kody turned to me and we began to square up against each other. Javic had come over to join his brother and both stared at me with anger in their eyes.

"You think you're some kind of hero?" Javic said. He even threw his own gun aside and cracked his knuckles.

"Better than being a butthead. How's that leg big guy?" I said, taking up a fighting stance. Kody and Javic's eyes widened with recognition.

"The kid! The kid from the class!" Kody said pointing at me. Javic snarled.

"Don't got your friend Captain Falcon to help you now do you boy?" he said rolling up his sleeves.

"Don't need him," I said bravely. What the hell was I doing? What the HELL was I doing?!

"You want to fight boy? Fine. We'll fight. We'll show you what happens to heroes," Kody said and cracked his own knuckles. I took the time to take off my button down shirt to reveal the sleeveless shirt I had on. My muscles were on full display to everyone. Sam, who was standing off to the side terrified, had her mouth open in either admiration or shock. Couldn't tell. My attention was on these 2 scumbags in front of me. Neither of them knew that I was now a 3rd degree black belt. I gestured with one hand for them to "come on" and said, very confidently,

"Show me your moves," and we fought. I paired their clumsy strikes and counter attacked with my own. They weren't able to get a single hit in. I dipped. I ducked. I dodged. I fought with lightning fast ferocity. I wasn't going to allow these men to hurt innocent people and now I had the ability to do so unlike when I was 5. Eventually, Kody attempted to haymaker me in the face but I ducked and he punched the wall so hard I heard bones break. He yelled in pain and I chopped him in the back of the head and he fell on the ground. I turned back to Javic and I nearly exploded in anger. Javic was now holding the knife to Sam who looked as if she had run forward to help me but was grabbed by Javic. They were about 25 feet away from me and Kody.

"Let her go. Now," I growled and put my fists up again.

"Oh look! He likes you!" Javic said in Sam's ear. She recoiled in fear as Javic raised his knife to her face.

"Andy…" she said. She sounded terrified. No. I could not let this happen. I had to do something. Anything. Suddenly, without even thinking, I ran. In no time flat I reached Javic, made him release Sam, grabbed him by the shirt, kneed him 3 times in the chest before I effortlessly lifted him in the air with one hand, swung him overhead and slammed him on the ground. He didn't move after that. I looked over to Sam who was looking at me with utter amazement.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Andy...you just ran about 25 feet in less than a second…" she said, staring at me. I noticed that I had indeed run the entire length of the restaurant in record time.

"Well, I mean. Cardio," I said before she jumped at me, wrapped her arms around me and pecked my cheek. Pretty soon, the entire restaurant was clapping and cheering for me. Roy and Lisa soon hugged me after Sam let go. Miss Lily also came over and hugged me again. Oh she remembered me all right. Roy and I were some of her favorite students she ever taught, even though we got into outrageous shenanigans during recess. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I had just single handedly taken down 2 armed men with my bare hands suffering no injuries. Aunt Josslyn, who had recovered and helped the GSF take the unconscious men to the squad cars, nearly broke my ribs as she hugged me, after a GSF officer was through shaking my hand.

"That was incredible sweetie!" she said, lifting me off the ground a little.

"Auntie, you're gonna kill me." I managed to say through the pain. Aunt DJ had come over to me as well and had a silent conversation with Aunt Josslyn. Aunt Josslyn nodded and let me go. As I was struggling to remember how to breathe, I saw her take my post behind the bar. Confused, I turned to Aunt DJ.

"Andy, it's time. Come with me. I need to tell you something in private." she said. She led me past the arriving news crews coming to interview witnesses and took me back to our house. I sat on the couch while Aunt DJ rummaged through the other room. Muffins realized that I was home, meowed happily and jumped on my lap and began to "make biscuits."

"Hi little one. Miss me since this morning?" I said and started to give her all the pets and attention that she wanted.

"Mew!" Muffins said and showed me her belly. She was the sweetest little black cat in the world. She even had little vampire fangs and liked to follow me around the house. Aunt DJ was in another room, rummaging for something. I looked around the living room and saw what the date was via the digital calendar on the wall. It was exactly 16 years ago today that my parents had died.

I recalled that day with little difficulty. It was a pleasant evening. Not too hot and not too cold. My dad was actually home that night but he was twitchy and I often saw him look out the window as if he was waiting for someone. I meanwhile was playing with my action figures. Yes, I had the Captain Falcon action figure. What of it? I worshiped the guy at this time remember? My mom was also acting strangely that night. Every time she looked at my dad, she had started to cry silently until he told her something under his breath. One or twice, I saw my dad look at me with a sad smile on his face. Eventually it happened. The front door blasted inward and my dad jumped into action. Before I could register what was going on, my mom had grabbed me and taken me into Jody's nursery. Jody was still sleeping peacefully.

"Andy, grab your sister. We need to leave. Aunt DJ is coming," she said, grabbing nearby suitcases and threw them out the window.

"But why? What about dad?" I said beyond confused. I could hear my dad fighting someone in the other room. The guy he was fighting spoke with a robotic voice as if he was using a translator and English was not his first language. Mom looked in the direction of the noise and tears filled her eyes again.

"Dad's busy fighting the guy who broke in. He'll be with us soon. I promise," she said, taking Jody out of her crib and handing her to me. Jody had woken up and was smiling at me and reaching her little arms toward my face. Mom had begun to barricade the door with everything she could.

"What about Captain Falcon? Did you call him?" I asked.

"Y-yes. Captain Falcon's coming," she said, pushing a chair against the door.

"What's happening? Why is this guy attacking our house?" I asked, watching Mom lean against the door and address me

"Andy, I'll explain later right now we have to- GAK!" I looked on in absolute horror as the blade of a scythe pierced my mother's chest. The blade was red and looked like it was made of pure energy. The blade withdrew from mom's chest and she clutched the wound. She looked at me as blood started to spill out of her mouth.

"Save...Jody...Fly...my little...falcons," she said and fell to the ground and moved no more. Captain Falcon didn't protect her like he promised. She was dead.

"MOM!" I screamed as the door was blasted apart and I gazed upon what would haunt my nightmares to come. A towering figure stood in the doorway. He was dressed in a black robe that covered his whole body. It seemed to be swirling with energy. His hands were white, like a skeleton's and one of them was holding the energy scythe that he had used to kill my mother. His face was hooded, but I could still make out a skeletal mask that covered the lower part of his face. When the figure spoke, the voice came out deep and robotic. I thought I heard him speak another language but his mask must be a translator.

"And now, the child." it said and raised his scythe. Now would be a very good time to show up Captain Falcon. It was at this point I saw my dad run and leap at this figure. He had a bloodied and bruised face but that didn't stop him. Before I saw them disappear around the corner, my dad had yelled

"IT SEEMS HELL WILL BE A FATE THAT WE BOTH SHARE!"

"ANDY!" a female voice had cried. I turned to see Aunt DJ at the window motioning towards me. Without question I climbed out of the window with Jody and Aunt DJ and I ran from the house. Still no Captain Falcon? Where was he? He promised. He could still save my dad. I turned around just in time to see my house explode.

"NOOOOOOO! MOM! DAD!" I yelled and tried to run back to my destroyed house. Aunt Josslyn, who had been waiting nearby, had stopped me from running back and held me close as Aunt DJ took baby Jody from me. Eventually I stopped struggling and began to cry. My parents were dead. Captain Falcon never showed up to save them. From that moment forward I hated him with every fiber of my being. I ripped the scarf he gave me off of my neck and threw it on the ground while I continued to sob.

I was brought back to the present when Muffins meowed and pawed at my hand. I had stopped giving her attention as I relived the past and to Muffins, that was unacceptable.

"Sorry Muffins. Bad memories" I said and started to scratch her ears. She purred contentedly and Aunt DJ came back into the room holding a box. She sat down across from me and placed the box in front of me. She gestured for me to reach in. I did so and pulled out the old scarf Captain Falcon had given me.

"Ok, why would I want to see this. It just reminds me that he never showed up 16 years ago," I said scowling at the scarf.

"Andy, it's time you know the truth. Captain Falcon was there. Captain Falcon was your father," she said. I stared at her in disbelief. There was no way. NO WAY. She was telling me the truth.

"This is a joke right? You're joking? Don't compare my dad to that LYING BASTARD!" I shouted. Muffins meowed indignantly but still remained on my lap. Aunt DJ closed her eyes as if remembering my father. He was her little brother after all. She had also been pretty upset when he had died.

"Andy, this is not a joke. He was Captain Falcon. For almost 15 years. Took down so many high profile gangs in his time. Do you remember when he fought those 2 men you just took down with ease at Falcon House? He wasn't just 'in the area' like he told your teacher, he was keeping an eye on his son. Did you ever realize why you only saw him on weekends? Hmm? How he told you that he worked at GSF and 'arrested bad guys.' This is what he meant," she said and reached into the box and pulled out another photo. It was older and contained 3 people. One of which was a beautiful 23 year old woman holding a baby while Captain Falcon stood next to her. Except Captain Falcon was not wearing his helmet. Standing next to my mother wearing Captain Falcon's jacket and pants was...

"Dad…." I said staring at the photo. The baby in the picture must have been me. I was sleeping in my mothers arms and my dad was looking at me with the biggest smile on his face. I looked up at Aunt DJ.

"He...he saved me at school?" I asked in a shaky voice. Aunt DJ nodded.

"Yes. He always thought it was pretty funny that you were obsessed with him and Captain Falcon without realizing they were the same person" she said. I continued to stare at the photo. I still couldn't believe it. The man I had resented for the last 16 years was my own father. I felt sick. Aunt DJ seemed to notice because she always knew when something was wrong. It was one of the many reasons why I loved her so much.

"Andy, sweetie. It's ok. It was probably for the best that you didn't associate yourself with Captain Falcon until you were ready," she said. I looked at her.

"Wh-why did you keep this from me? He was my father. Captain Falcon was my father and you never told me. You watched as I hated my own father for 16 years!" I said angrily. Muffins rubbed her face against my hand as if to say "it's ok friend." Aunt DJ closed her eyes again and took a deep breath before she started to explain everything,

"I had to make sure that the killer was dead. See, I worked with your dad as his computer operator. I monitored the local GSF radios and relayed valuable information to him while he was out protecting the city. Last known locations of targets, crimes in progress, misbehaving children during recess," Aunt DJ stopped and smiled at me again. I knew she wasn't mad at me but I hoped Captain Fal- er I mean, my dad hadn't seen the time where Roy and I spent a recess period climbing and jumping off the low roof of the school in 3rd grade. Man, we got in big trouble for that one. Aunt DJ continued and even Muffins was looking at her with all her attention.

"He had gathered countless enemies over the years. Many of which wanted him dead but they never knew his civilian identity. One day, your father had uncovered a lot of inside information about that Dark Million organization and released it to the GSF. Do you ever wonder why Dark Million hasn't been as big as they used to be? Your dad did that. He exposed them for the scum they were. It came at a price however. They had marked him for death. Remember that one crash you saw on TV? They caused it. It didn't kill him like they wanted but Dark Million still benefited from it. They took some of your dad's DNA from that crash and Dark Million had used it to find out who Captain Falcon really was. It only told them your dad's name. Nothing about me, you, your mom or Jody. Pretty much immediately after, I hacked into the system and deleted the data, but I figured someone had read it. Your dad concocted a plan. Have me help you and your mom and Jody escape while he fought the assassin that was coming for him. I also saw your mom die Andy, I will never forget your sceam honey" Aunt DJ had started to cry. I did too. I had just relived that horrible night. Muffins made a little "prrbt" noise and pawed at Aunt DJ. Aunt DJ patted Muffins on the head and wiped her eyes with her other hand before she continued.

"We decided to separate you and Jody. Jody went with Kathy and her boyfriend, Mason. They changed Jody's last name to Summer as well. I saw that the assassin had seen you and figured that he didn't want you to take your father's place but I am certain that he didn't see Jody. For a time, I used to write your name with Josslyn's last name just to be safe. I was sure that the assassin died in the explosion but I wanted to make sure Dark Million wasn't after us. Why do you think you didn't see Jody until she was 8? After I heard you say that you had conjured fire once and when I saw you run across the Falcon House in less than a second and slam that man on the ground without so much as a grunt, I knew it was time to tell you about this," Aunt DJ said.

"Yeah, but why now? What does it all mean?" I asked. Muffins meowed and pawed at my hand again trying to calm me down. It worked. She was such a sweet kitty.

"Andy, those are not things a normal human can do. Your father was able to do the same albeit not as powerful. I saw your leg when you kicked the larger man in the face. Little flames were coming off of it. You saved the entire diner from those men. It is exactly what your father would have done," Aunt DJ said defiantly.

"Dad...he...he could..." I said in a shaky voice. Aunt DJ walked over to me and hugged me just as tight as she did the first night she took me to live with her when I was 9.

"I know sweetie, I know. I miss him too. He was my best friend" she said and kissed the top of my head. Then she reached in the box once more and pulled out a data chip.

"Your father recorded this for you. Right before it happened. He wanted you to see it when the time came. Also, here" she gave me the data chip and a piece of paper with an address written on it. "Go to that place, it will explain everything. He wanted you to take his place anyway, even if he wasn't marked for death. Just know that he loved you and your sister to the end. He did everything for the protection of you. Don't let his sacrifice go in vain."

I sat in my room later that same night. Aunt DJ had left me alone after she had given me another long hug. Aunt Josslyn came home a few hours later and I could hear them talking in the other room. I still had my old scarf and the data chip and the piece of paper in my hand. Why didn't I just throw them out the window? I was essentially lied to for 15 years. Captain Falcon was my dad? Are you kidding me? The more I thought about it, the more it made sense...it also pissed me off to no end. Muffins had followed me into my bedroom and was sitting on her pillow watching me look at the objects Aunt DJ had given me. Eventually, she walked over, sniffed the scarf, meowed happily and started to rub her head against it. Must've still smelled like me. I put the items on my dresser next to the photo of my parents and Jody and climbed into bed. I saw Muffins yawning and laying down on her pillow. Hopefully, this entire day was just a really long nightmare and that I would wake up tomorrow morning with the items on my dresser not existing.