Douglas Falcon liked to consider himself a professional. As cocky as he made Captain Falcon to be, a public figure still had to be friendly to everyone, and he had kept away from tarring that image so far.
Right now, though? He felt like he could use a good curse or two.
Just my luck Blood Falcon is here to meet me the day I get here, he thought. Of all the places he could've come, he had to be here. What does he want with this place?
If there was any silver lining to this cloudless summer night, it was that Lucina girl had emptied Blood Falcon's clip. Falcon watched as his clone fumbled with a clip, and knew now was the perfect time to close the distance.
His boots clicked loudly over the runway. Wind rushed past his face, the orange tinted pavement and long shadows cast by the flames behind him rushing past in a blur as he sprinted forward.
Blood Falcon turned. He cursed. Raised his gun.
Falcon wasn't worried. If he was as perfect a copy as Blood Falcon liked to say, then his skill with a firearm would be just as bad as Falcon's.
The clip, only halfway in, clattered to the ground.
Falcon clocked him in the jaw before he could pick it up. As Blood Falcon reeled back, Falcon grabbed his arm and twisted it around. Blood Falcon's grip loosened. Falcon pried the gun from his fingers, and pushed his clone away. Drawing back his arm, Falcon hurled the gun as far as he could.
When he turned back, Blood Falcon was already running away again.
"Just where do you think you're going?" Captain Falcon boomed. Even as he spoke, he broke into a run after Blood Falcon. "Hey! Stop, in the name of the law!"
Not that Blood Falcon would listen to that. Of course, people expected Captain Falcon to say those things, and who was he to deny them? Not that he would let Blood Falcon get away either.
"Falcon kick!"
Blood Falcon's head snapped around just in time to see Falcon's burning foot streak toward his face. Blood Falcon stepped aside. Falcon soared past.
Which now meant Falcon was standing between him, and whatever goal he had.
"Hey, now," Blood Falcon said. He tried to smile, but Falcon could see the frustration in his narrowed eyes. A mannerism he shared. "It's been a long night. I'm sure you're quite tired. Step aside, and no one has to get hurt."
"You know I'd love that more than anything else, but I'm afraid standing aside for evil is just not the way of justice," Falcon replied.
"Well," Blood Falcon said, his eyes narrowing even more, "you can't say I tried."
And he lunged. Falcon raised his arms to meet Blood Falcon's attack. Blood Falcon's fist smashed against Falcon's guard. Falcon refused to budge. Blood Falcon hammered again, then a third time.
Falcon's leg came up and drove into Blood Falcon's gut. Blood Falcon stumbled back with a gasp. Falcon rushed forward and swung for Blood Falcon's face.
Blood Falcon ducked back, then back again from Falcon's follow-up blow. His fist shot out again, Falcon shoved it to the side. His own blow rushed for Blood Falcon's chest. Blood Falcon kicked him away.
"Well, don't you seem in a hurry today," Blood Falcon hissed out. "Why the rush? Do you have somewhere to be?"
"I could say the same to you," Falcon replied. "Come now. You didn't think I'd have figured out where you were going?"
"What difference do you think that will make? Captain Falcon or no, you will not stop me!"
Blood Falcon rushed him. He swung at Falcon, then swung again. Falcon held his arms up to take them with a grunt. He pushed Blood Falcon back. Blood Falcon's boots skidded on the ground. Undeterred, Blood Falcon kicked off. Falcon raised his guard to block.
Nothing could have prepared him for the force of Blood Falcon's full weight bearing down on him. His arms buckled. He stumbled back. Blood Falcon took the chance to force him aside, and in an instant, he left Falcon in the dust.
"Dammit!"
Falcon slammed a fist into the ground, leaving a scorch mark in the pavement. The impact was enough to force him into the air. Without a second thought, he thrust another burning fist forward, launching himself at Blood Falcon's back.
"Raptor Boost!"
Blood Falcon turned around, surprised. He raised his arms to block. Falcon reached out and tackled him around the waist instead. Blood Falcon stumbled back. Falcon pushed away. As his feet reached the ground, Falcon grabbed the stunned Blood Falcon by the scruff of his neck, hauled him over his shoulder, and hurled him to the ground.
Blood Falcon caught himself. With a graceful flip, he pushed himself back to his feet and fell into a stance.
Tauntingly, Falcon beckoned him on. "Come on!"
"Don't mind if I do!" Blood Falcon's leg snapped out in a fiery kick that launched him forward. "Falcon kick!"
Falcon caught it on his arm and diverted it to the side. Blood Falcon jumped away from a counter punch, before he kicked back down.
"Falcon kick!"
This time, Falcon ducked away. Blood Falcon's attack crashed into the ground. Pieces of pavement blew into the air. Falcon pushed through and smashed his elbow into Blood Falcon's face.
Blood Falcon staggered back, clutching his nose. Falcon pressed on, kicking twice before delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of Blood Falcon's arms.
Blood Falcon's guard held strong. He tanked the hits, grit his teeth. He pushed aside Falcon's third kick and swung.
Falcon leapt away. Blood Falcon followed. He jabbed once, twice, and hooked into Falcon's side. Falcon wove away from the first two blows. He held up an arm to block the third, then snapped out a kick in return.
Blood Falcon retreated. Snarling, he drew back a fist. Flames leapt to life around his fingers, wild and lively as they were hot. With a forward swing, he launched himself forward.
"Raptor boost!"
Falcon braced his arms to block. Only a second too late did he realize his mistake.
Like he had done before, Blood Falcon's arms rammed into his guard. The impact pushed Falcon back. Blood Falcon followed through by grabbing hold of Falcon's arms. He shoved Falcon down. His boots kicked off the ground. Blood Falcon flew up, over, and around Falcon, landing just behind him in a crouch.
Falcon whirled around, stunned. Blood Falcon barely spared him a glance, already sprinting for the hangar just ahead.
Snarling, Falcon crouched down. Sparks crackled over him. He let them run, building energy for one last attack.
Then he took off. Concrete shattered beneath him. Power surged through his body, leaving a trail of smoke as the world blurred around him, launching him at incredible speed.
From the surprised noise Blood Falcon had made as Falcon crashed into him, he hadn't been expecting this at all. Falcon's arms gripped him tightly. As Falcon's feet skidded over the ground, he dragged him up and away to throw him back.
Blood Falcon's hands reached for his belt. Falcon heard something snap. His gun clicked, ready to fire.
Falcon's eyes widened.
"Shit!" Falcon shoved Blood Falcon away. Not a moment too soon, too. Blood Falcon spun around, Falcon's weapon in hand.
Blood Falcon's gun was empty. His was not. Falcon only had a second to curse his preparedness before Blood Falcon started to fire away.
Bullets came down on him in a frenzy. Many sailed past him, sprayed in his direction at random, but a few flew to hit him dead on. Falcon's fists became a burning blur, reaching out and punching away every bullet that came his way. It was barely an inconvenience to pluck them out of the air, but by the time they stopped, Blood Falcon had already disappeared into the hangar.
Falcon cursed, clenching his fists. "Dammit. Of all the ways I could've handled that..."
The sound of footsteps echoed from behind him. Falcon glanced over his shoulder to see the policewoman from before, running up to catch up to him, flashlight back in her hands. She certainly looked better than she had before, though not any drier. Her damp clothes barely reflected the dimly lit airfield, and her hair was wet enough to cling to her face.
"Oh, hello!" Falcon said, wiping all the anger from his face in an instant. "What happened to you? Are you alright?"
"It's summer. I didn't have to look far to find water to wash all the oil off me." She frowned, looking him up and down. "What about you? You took quite the beating there."
Forcing a laugh, Falcon said, "It'll take more than that to keep me down!"
"I'll take your word for it." Eyeing the hangar Blood Falcon had disappeared into, she said, "What should we do about him?"
"Him? You leave it to me."
"Should I? From what I saw, you were barely holding him off on your own."
"I–" Falcon paused. Could he accept her help?
On one hand, he was sure Blood Falcon was much too strong for this policewoman to handle. The best thing to do, undoubtedly, would be to force her to stay behind. But when he looked into her eyes, he saw in her a fiery determination that threatened to burn his soul. He couldn't stop her if he tried. Why try to keep her away when she would run off anyway?
"Alright," Falcon said with a sigh. "Let's take him down, but don't go rushing in to take him on by yourself. He's far too powerful for you to take on your own. Leave the fighting to me."
"Yeah," Lucina replied. "I think I've figured that out already. Just be careful not to get yourself shot, okay?"
A bit of a short chapter this time, but hey, at least I didn't take an entire year to update it again, eh? As much as I feel like maybe I could've waited to let it stew for a bit longer, I feel like maybe getting into a more regular rhythm of updating will help me to write a little more.
Also, someone pointed out to me that Captain Falcon's gun is a laser gun. I didn't know this until I was in the middle of writing this chapter, and by then I did not want to completely rewrite the flow of the previous chapter, so... not completely accurate to F-Zero, but Lucina exists in it, so I think I can afford a bit of character departure.
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this up. Until then, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!
