Lap 3- Enter Vegas Palace
Destini remained on the ground for a few moments until the silence dissipated, the pilots returning to their conversations and drinks as if nothing had happened. She growled under her breath, picked herself up off of the polished floor and headed to the front doors, pushing her way past the pilots that were returning from the Bet Race. She made a point to shove Phoenix a little harder than she pushed aside the other racers she passed by. Phoenix grabbed his side where he was elbowed as he walked into the bar, glaring at Destini as she rushed past him. "What the hell is with her?" he asked nobody in particular as he glared back at the young woman.
Destini had a thousand mile stare on the cab ride from Mute City back to her home city of Aeropolis. Everything had happened so fast it felt like a blur. Now what? She owed a debt to one of the most notorious crime bosses in the galaxy. It took her five years to scrounge together 84 million, so who knows how long it would take for her to get the remaining 466 million credits she owed to Don. Destini couldn't help but shudder slightly as she remembered Don's cold hand grabbing hold of her shoulder and how he would constantly call her "sweetheart." How in the world was she going to find a way to pay him back? What about the F-Zero machine that she so badly wanted? Her future career as an F-Zero racer? What if Don sent his cronies after her? So many questions with such little time to answer them...
"This is as far as I can take you, kiddo." The elderly cab driver stopped the car, and Destini was brought out of her thoughts. "Thanks," came her simple answer as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Aeropolis was a beautiful city during the day, but at night it was dazzling. Light from the city's countless skyscrapers kept the streets brightly illuminated, while transports and vehicles buzzed though the streets as busily as the would during the day, controlled by the powerful supercomputer Mother Q. Destini only had to walk a few blocks to her small flat in the lower areas of the computer powered city. It wasn't the most impressive place to live, being not much larger than a living room and the only other room being a bathroom, but it felt like home to Destini. Her only furniture was a small but comfortable futon and a small dresser that she kept her few possessions and articles of clothing in. On top of the dresser was some plastic toys of a few F-Zero machines that she had collected as a child- Mighty Typhoon, Hyper Speeder, Pink Spider, and Queen Meteor. On the walls hung two tattered posters, one depicting Captain Falcon in his infamous "show me your moves!" pose and said phrase printed boldly above him, the other depicting Dr. Stewart holding his racing helmet with both his name and "03 Golden Fox" on a banner below him. Destini sat on the futon, put her face in her hands, and sighed. Like any other sentient being, she had made mistakes and had bad days. But she didn't think it would be possible for it to all fall apart so quickly. She'd gone from being well on her way to a career as an F-Zero racer to invoking the wrath of a known criminal and having hardly a credit to her name.
"Good evening, Destini." Mother Q's feminine, robotic voice echoed through the mostly empty flat. One of the supercomputer's many functions was communicating with Aeropolis' residents through an artificial voice that could be heard no matter what building or room one was in. Destini found some comfort knowing that she could unburden herself to Mother Q and the supercomputer would simply stash whatever she was told into her junk code. "Hello, Mother Q." The young woman answered.
"How was your evening?"
Destini paused for a moment. "It was... stressful."
"How so?" Mother Q inquired.
Destini sighed. "I'd rather we not talk about it. I'm just going to go to bed."
"All right then. Good night, Destini."
"Good night, Mother Q."
Destini stood up and walked over to her dresser to get her nightclothes. She grabbed her green tank top, but felt something underneath her white short shorts. She moved the garment to the side of the drawer and found her one and only weapon beneath it- a revolver that she had stolen from a small weapons shop in the slums of Red Canyon several years in the past. She wasn't the best shot, but it proved useful in some of her heists in that desolate canyon. She picked up the small, hand held weapon and observed it for a few moments before popping it open. Locked and loaded. Destini put her tank top back in the drawer and closed it. A plan was forming in her mind, one that might just work if she was lucky. A plan that would get her money back and get the 16 million credits she didn't have to begin with.
"Mother Q, are you still there?" Destini asked as she opened the bottom drawer and retrieved a holster that she strapped to her right thigh.
"Of course I am," the supercomputer answered. "What is the matter?"
"Do you know anything about Don Genie?"
"Of course I do," Mother Q replied without hesitation. "Anybody who has ever been within my city is in my database. What do you wish to know about him?"
"Where does he keep his credits stashed away?"
There was a pause from Mother Q. "I do not know for sure, but one of his casinos is the most likely place. Would you like coordinates?"
"Yes, please." Destini grabbed a pen from her dresser and wrote down the coordinates on the palm of her left hand. "I'll be back in a few hours. Make sure nobody breaks in!" She instructed the supercomputer as she rushed out the door and back out onto the street. The young woman searched for a vehicle that was driven by a sentient being as opposed to automatically driven. Such a thing was hard to come by in Aeropolis, so much so that Destini was aimlessly wandering the street for at least half an hour until she saw an elderly woman cruising down a back road. "Excuse me!" Destini called as she ran after the thankfully slow moving car.
"Can I help you, dear?" The old woman asked. Destini nodded and stepped into the car. "You can." She smiled sweetly before she drew her gun and pointed it at the woman's head. "Move it!" Destini demanded coldly, her expression immediately changing from false sweetness to a scowl. "Get out!" The old woman didn't have to be told twice. She got out of the car as quickly as she possibly could, and Destini went tearing down the street. When she was confident that the old lady was a good distance away, she pulled over and entered the coordinates into the navigation system. The coordinates lead right into the heart of Mute City's largest entertainment district, the loud and boisterous Vegas Palace. It was a place that was more active at night during the day, where rich people from every reach of the galaxy would have casinos built to both earn even more money and draw in the masses. The fact that it was also an F-Zero venue only added to Vegas Palace's already immense popularity.
Destini put the pedal to the metal, weaving in and out of the computer controlled vehicles. The few manually driven vehicles honked angrily at her, but she payed them no attention. Once again, Destini was a woman with a mission. It took some time to get to Mute City, and Destini followed the directions given to her by the navigation system to find her way into Vegas Palace. As expected, the district was as bustling and busy as Mute City would be during daylight hours. Destini continued to weave in and out between the many vehicles on the road in her rush to reach her destination. The casino she pulled up to was massive, at least on the outside. The building was so brightly lit one would think it was still daylight. Destini slowed the car down and pulled into an alleyway next to the casino. She'd have to find a way to bypass any security. But what security would there be? Possibly something that would be impossible for the young woman to break through, such as a fingerprint or retinal scan. And even if she did break through, how would she get out without being noticed?
Destini stepped out of the car and walked around the side of the building and looked for a way she could possibly get in. No windows that she could open up or break, but then again, who would stash away large amounts of credits in a place with windows? But there had to be something...
That's it!
An opening to the building's ventilation system, covered by a metal grate, lay close to the paved road. Destini knelt down and began prying at the rusted screws with her fingernails, hoping that they would be weak enough to either unscrew or break off completely. The screws slipped out slightly, leaving a gap between the opening and the grate. Destini removed one of her boots and stuck the heel into the gap, using it as leverage to pry the grate off. She pushed down as hard as she could, and there was audible creaking as the old and rusty screws began to slide out. After several minutes of pushing, the grate popped out and clattered to the ground. Destini tossed the metal object to the side, put her boot back on, and crawled inside the opening. She felt a chill as cold air blew through the metal tunnel she crawled into, presumably from the building's air conditioning. Destini was able to shift her body and slide along slowly through the ventilation tunnel. Eventually, she saw light coming from another metal grate, this time on the floor of the tunnel. She slowly crawled over to it and peered down. The tunnel she was currently in ran right above the casino's ceiling. Destini could see people of all species playing poker on a large table below her, and could hear countless conversations and sounds coming from elsewhere in the building. Sounds of slot machines, roulette wheels, and dice being rolled, amongst many other things.
Probably shouldn't drop down here, Destini thought as she carefully crawled over top of the grate, praying that it wouldn't fall and scare the life out of the people below. A few meters past that, and the tunnel branched off in two opposite directions. On a whim, Destini turned to the left. This portion of the tunnel seemed to be longer than the last. But at long last, she could see a dim light coming from another grate several meters ahead. The young woman crawled over to it and peered down. With such little light it was difficult to see, but the room below seemed to be empty.
Here? Destini thought. It was worth a try. She pushed down hard on the grate, causing it to flip open. She shifted forward in the tunnel so that her feet would be the first to fall, not her head. Once her lower body was through, Destini's upper body slid through the opening with little effort. She landed hard on the ground, her heels causing her to lose her balance upon impact and fall backwards on her rear end. She rubbed her lower back for a second and looked around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was able to vaguely make out the shapes of what appeared to be shelves with large objects on them. Destini stood up, walked over to one of these objects and touched it. She felt and heard credits shifting around inside of it. Her eyes widened with excitement. Jackpot! She attempted to lift what seemed to be a sack full of credits. How much was inside, she didn't know. It took some effort, but she was able to lift the sack off of the shelf and on to the floor. But how was Destini going to get both herself and the bag back up into the ventilation tunnel? She looked up and could somewhat see the opening she had dropped down from, but it was at least three meters above her. The young woman sighed annoyedly. She was basically trapped. Was there another way out? None of the shelves seemed to be close enough to the opening, so she couldn't just climb back up and escape that way. As Destini was searching for another way out, a door slid open and bathed the small room in light.
In the doorway, the same red haired woman from earlier that night stood tall and spoke into a comlink attached to the collar of her shirt. "Boss, there's been a breach in vault 28B"
Destini growled, quickly recognizing Ankoku and her flat voice. She slung the sack over her shoulder with one hand and grabbed her gun with her other hand. Destini slammed into Ankoku with all her strength, knocking the older woman to the floor and allowing the younger woman an opportunity to run. Destini ran as quickly as she could with a heavy sack over her shoulder and heels on her boots. Many of the casino-goers began to panic as they noticed her gun in hand, even though it hadn't been used.
Yet.
Destini looked over her shoulder and saw that Ankoku had gotten back up on her feet and was giving chase. Destini leapt up onto the poker table she had seen earlier, scattering cards and chips all over. She cocked her gun and fired off several rounds in Ankoku's direction, not caring if she hit the red haired woman or if there was any collateral damage. She clumsily jumped off the table, knocking it down in the process. At least it would hopefully provide an obstacle that would slow down Ankoku's pursuit. Destini pushed through the panicked crowd and out the casino's front doors, screeching to a halt before running into the alleyway where her stolen car was parked. She threw the bag of credits into the car and jumped in, backing out before putting the pedal to the metal and tearing down the street, turning onto a back road the first chance she got. Destini looked over her shoulder and saw that three cars were right on her tail. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that her pursuers were some of Don's cronies. Damn it, can't this thing go any faster? she thought, pushing down harder on the gas pedal and taking frequent turns in an effort to lose her pursuers, but to no avail.
But things were about to get ugly.
Destini's eyes widened as she heard something much faster and much larger than the other three cars approaching her fast. It was only a matter of seconds before she was overtaken by a bulky, light blue F-Zero machine emblazoned with shark teeth and the number 31. She didn't have to read the name on the side of the machine to know that this was the Fat Shark, Don's rough and tough bruiser of a machine. Destini made a hard turn in a last ditch attempt to lose her pursuers, but the Fat Shark was simply too fast for a regular street car to get away from. Destini looked behind her just as Don slammed his massive machine into the small car. The young woman's vehicle spun out of control into an alleyway before slamming into a wall. Destini's shoulder slammed into the door, causing pain to radiate through her upper body. Once the car stopped, she stumbled out of the wreck and fell onto the cold, dirty pavement. She looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw three burly, gun wielding men stepped into the alleyway, followed closely by a pair of all too familiar individuals.
"You again?" Don spat as he glared at the young woman laying on the ground. Ankoku stood attentive and silent as she always did, but held an imposingly large rifle in her arms. "Did you take something of mine, sweetheart?" Destini tried to get up, but the pain in her shoulder kept her from pushing herself up into her feet. Ankoku handed Don the rifle, and he handed her his gold cane to hold on to. The billionaire hoisted his rifle onto his shoulder and kept it pointed at Destini's head. "Look sweetheart, give me back the money and I might not blow your brains out onto the pavement."
Destini was able to prop herself up slightly, the pain in her shoulder starting to dissipate. She grabbed her gun, cocked it, and held it level to Don's head, her hand shaking slightly. "Don't come closer," she growled. "Don't come closer or I'll shoot."
For a few minutes, nobody made a move or said a word. Not the men. Not Ankoku. Not Don. And not Destini. She kept her finger on the trigger, ready to shoot at the slightest move. Her finger twitched as she briefly considered pulling the trigger and killing Don, but even is she did she would still be outnumbered four to one.
The sound of police sirens abruptly pierced the silence. "Damn it! Who called the cops?" Don demanded. As if any one of them had done it. More than likely it was either someone from the casino or somebody saw the chase. "Let's go!" Ankoku ordered before she ran off, followed by the three men. Don lowered the rifle and glared at Destini. "Don't think that this is over!" he snapped at her before following his subordinates to their getaway vehicles. Destini fought the lingering pain in her shoulder and shakily got to her feet, still a little jittery after all that happened. She retrieved the bag of credits from the wreckage of her stolen car, slung it over her uninjured shoulder, and ran deeper into the alleyway as the sound of police sirens grew louder. The young woman ran faster as she heard officers speaking to each other on the scene. She ran behind at least a dozen buildings before she stopped, completely out of breath. Dropping the bag to the ground, she looked around to scout her surroundings. Not another soul nearby, but a car that had been parked nearby would have to be her ride back home. She kicked her heel through the window and broke it, then threw the bag in, climbed in, and headed out.
As she left Vegas Palace, Destini took one last look around and breathed a sigh of relief to see that nobody was following her. She let herself catch her breath on the way back to Aeropolis, letting everything that transpired be fully processed in her mind. Destini smiled. Now this was the kind of thrill she liked. Robbing a casino, a car chase, and a standoff with gangsters. It would be difficult for F-Zero to top that, but given the unpredictability of the sport it was hard to say for sure. And now Destini was finally going to have a machine of her own to enter the most prestigious Grand Prix the galaxy has ever known.
Once she was home, Destini made absolutely sure that no sentient being saw her get out of her second stolen car and walk into her flat with the big bag of credits. Thankfully there wasn't anyone in sight, but then again it was past 2 AM. Unlike Vegas Palace, Aeropolis was void of any sentient life in the darkness of night. Destini dropped her bag onto the hardwood floor of her flat as she stepped inside, switching on the light.
"Good evening, Destini." Mother Q greeted the young woman as she walked over to her dresser to grab her nightclothes. "Hello Mother Q," Destini greeted a little more happily than normal.
"What did you do tonight?" The supercomputer asked, trying to make casual conversation.
"Nothing you'd find interesting." Destini's answer was a lie, of course, but Mother Q had no way of telling the difference. "But make sure the door is locked tightly and nobody tries to come in, ok?"
"Of course."
As they spoke, Destini changed into what she usually wore to bed- a green tank top and white short shorts. She turned off the light and laid down on her futon. In the darkness, she could vaguely see the posters of Captain Falcon and Dr. Stewart up on the wall. Soon, it would only be a matter of time until they went from being poster boys to Destini's competition.