Captain Falcon's Theatre (pt. 4): A Terror Fully Revealed and the Rise of a Cyborg Princess
The theatre's almost over, but things probably won't get any easier for Falcon and his group. The Lords are more than capable of upping the ante, but will they do so here? The Smashers better be prepared for that, lest they get torn to shreds…
The path of goodwill, while simplistic on the surface, is hard to follow…
It involves grueling tasks that test a person's sense of morality…
Pain and mental stress are inevitable, with no chance of preventing either from occurring…
Only the most dedicated will come through, for they do not consider surrender an option…
Those that are morally weak will succumb to wrong choices…
They will only seek selfish benefits that only backfire on them in the end…
From there, evil will corrupt their minds and ruin their own lives through temptations and destruction of interpersonal bonds…
At morning time, two hours before the race…
"How are you holding up, R.O.B.?" Falcon asked. Closing a panel on the robot's body, he glanced at his co-Smasher's repaired form for a few seconds. After approximately a half-hour of having damaged panels replaced and major components fixed, the former Ancient Minister seemed as clean as he was before the brutal torture, maybe even cleaner than when he first joined the Smashers.
"Overall status is green," R.O.B. beeped. "No major flaws detected."
"That's good to hear. Now, I'll need you to stay at the hospital with the others so that you can deliver an official copy of our charter to Stewart. He and his team of surgeons are turning Peach into an advanced cyborg with drastically increased combat abilities, but the government may ask for physical evidence of our group's existence. Listen for when Lillian contacts any of you guys."
The robot nodded his head in the affirmative. "And we shall have the task completed before the day is over."
"Let's go…"
At Fire Field…
"Welcome to the third race of the Platinum Cup, folks!" Campbell announced. "It's getting pretty hot here in Fire Field, where the lava can simply boil you to death! Let's hope that none of the drivers get launched off the tracks."
"And you are right, Derek," Kojima added. "But do you really want to know an interesting fact about this place? It wasn't always a dangerous environment to begin with; in fact, it was originally just a simple planet where miners could make a profit by unearthing precious ores deep underground. But the corporation that used to run this place ended up triggering a volcano by going too far down. That's why you can see all this lava down below."
At the starting area of the track, Captain Falcon remained motionless inside his vehicle, calmly waiting for the chaotic race to begin. Nervousness began to grasp his mind and heart tightly, more so than it did during the last two races, because of his increasing concern for the spectators inside the stadium. Since Magnus was still behind the good captain in points, it was becoming more and more unlikely that the Lords would not be called upon to interfere in any method possible. The hidden incident involving Jigglypuff and R.O.B.'s capture only seemed to exacerbate the thought's severity, seeing as though the two Smashers were captured and, in the robot's case, almost killed. He now also realized that Magnus's elimination from the race would only have negligible consequences; it would keep his co-racers safe for a short length of time, but it would not prevent a horrific massacre from occurring afterwards, even if the dark foe was to die. Perhaps the only way of ending the problem was to confront the dark cultists somewhere outside of the Grand Prix, where there would be support from his group of Smashers, especially the cybernetically augmented Peach.
Then, something else entered his mind. Going back to the incident involving the princess, he was suddenly worried that the mustachioed plumber in red would blame him for the problem and be unable, no, unwilling to forgive him. If this was to be prevented, an apology would have to be released, even if the bounty hunter himself was not directly responsible for Peach's fate. Only one option would hope to grant him any success at chilling any heated confrontation…
"Lillian," he sighed as connected to the mysterious maiden's telepathic network. "I need to speak with you."
"What do you wish to speak with me about?" the woman replied.
"Hey, once Mario arrives at the Smash Mansion, tell him that I will apologize to him in person. I believe it's the only way that he'll forgive me."
The maiden paused briefly before continuing. "Why do you seek fulfill your intended action? You're not to blame for Peach's fate."
"I didn't directly cause her fate to unravel, but I ended up giving the brash Dedede an opportunity to steal my ship and potentially put the others in danger by venturing into a hidden trap. I just want to let Mario know that I care about her safety as much as he does. Furthermore, I will also apologize to Master Hand for unwittingly putting a fellow Smasher in severe danger. Have you gotten a hold of Mario yet?"
"Unfortunately, I am unable to contact him for the time being. Something has sent him and most of his party into a comatose state. I can only hope that it is not the dreaded poison of the Lords, Igel. Be careful if you witness a Lord using this weapon to end your life."
"But will you still try to contact him?" Falcon was frozen momentarily as his ears caught word of a new trick up the enemy's sleeves. If he was lucky, then Igel would not be encountered by his group, but this was highly unlikely.
"I will keep trying until he wakes up."
"Okay then. I'll see you later." Falcon locked his eyes onto the road as the link was cut. Once again, the beginning countdown was initiated before him.
"Three! Two! One! GO!"
WHOOSH!
"And we're off to a flaming hot start!" Kojima proclaimed. "With most of the track having no ledges, can the racers keep their wits and avoid getting an unpleasant dip into the lava?"
With the race in full motion, Falcon was quickly subjected to a downward plunge as soon as he was a short distance away from the starting line. Boiling lava dominated the view from his perspective, with the metallic track being the only thing that shattered the scene's uniform appearance. When he reached the altitude to where a fiery column could establish contact with any of the machines, Falcon realized that there were no rails for what seemed like the rest of the lap, at least until he reached the stadium. This was especially concerning to him because, unlike the shifting land of Sand Ocean, death would await if he was tossed into the lava either by another racer or some idiotic mistake, and it would be the type of end that, as opposed to crashing into Port Town's streets, slowly overloaded every single nerve with hellish pain.
"Looks like I better not get too reckless here," he sighed. As he made his first encounter with the track's loop, some of the other vehicles, including the Fire Stingray and the Unbound Serpent, began to close in on his location in a manner that resembled aggressive stalking. However, there was some infighting that shattered any unity in usurping the good captain's lead…
"Not this time, cocksucker," Samurai Goroh snarled. With a yell, he slammed against Magnus with such force that the Lord was nearly thrown into the endless pool of fire, especially with the current part of the track inheriting a wave-like property that only made death a greater possibility. A wide snarl was stretched across the bandit's face as he rushed in to finish his mysterious foe off, a common property for someone possessed by the spirit of anger. Magnus was not ready to accept defeat, however, and he retaliated with a spinning attack that sent Goroh soaring into another vehicle.
"If it is a fiery death you so badly desire, then I shall grant your wish," the dark captain hissed, spit flying out of his mouth like liquid pebbles. The Unbound Serpent proceeded to execute another attack, but both sides were obscured from each other by the Red Gazelle, a lengthy machine owned by Mighty Gazelle. With the cyborg racer preventing both sides from attacking, and with a large jump fast approaching, Magnus was forced to temporarily abandon his assault to focus on his main threat: Captain Falcon.
WHOOSH…!
Shades of red, orange, and yellow rushed by as all racers were thrown into the air for long seconds. The landing marked a change in the course's construction; instead of the usual road witnessed on every course, there was now a cylinder-like pathway that allowed machines to travel on all sides. It would initially seem that this new area was safer than the rest of the course, but Magnus was about to prove the belief wrong…
"We shall see if you can remain attached to this cylinder for long," Magnus sighed deeply. As he was closing in on Falcon's position, he began bombarding the nearby Blood Hawk, registered to the good captain's sinister clone, with constant slamming to send it off-course. Blood Falcon, realizing that he was danger of being thrown into the superheated magma, attempted to fight back, but the dark Lord's vehicle, with its greater size and weight, easily shrugged off the futile attempts. Eventually, the Unbound Serpent detached its victim's vehicle from the track when the latter started spiraling too quickly around the cylinder. Cameras flocked around this event like hungry vultures to consume the somewhat chilling image of Blood Falcon being figuratively thrown into the depths of Hell; back at the stadium, more than half of the audience unleashed a loud yell as the death unraveled.
"And the sinister duplicate of Captain Falcon, Blood, is out of the race!" Kojima announced. "He certainly won't be coming back from that one!"
"That's right," Campbell added. "Hedin still isn't letting up, but will his efforts be enough to usurp the clone's heroic counterpart of the lead? In the world of F-Zero, anything can happen, so we can only wait and see. The Blue Falcon is currently in the lead, but the Unbound Serpent and Fire Stingray are closing in, and fast!"
At the hospital…
"How are we on the surgery?" Stewart asked a member of his team. The doctor was situated inside a blue, box-like room that jutted out into the operating area. In front of him was a one-way window that allowed observation of the patient, currently Princess Peach, while preventing anyone outside from noticing him in return.
"We are currently working on the torso area," the lesser surgeon replied. The only two things that distinguished him from Stewart were his shorter stature and his black, spiky hair. "The limbs have already been replaced by combat-grade prostheses, and we have gotten the cybernetic eye implanted as well."
"What about the blood?"
"Her old blood is being circulated out of her body to be replaced by a synthetic variant equipped with nanomachines; we're about halfway done with that process. We've also taken the liberty of injecting a temporary set into her skeleton to replace the natural components with a near-indestructible metal."
Stewart gently popped one of his knuckles before continuing. "Good to hear that we're making progress. Now, the Smashers, particularly Red and Dedede, just handed to me a copy of their organization's charter; I'll send it to the government as soon as possible. Just make sure that nothing goes wrong when I leave, understand?"
"As you wish, sir." When Stewart exited the room, the surgeon directed his glare at the partly reconstructed princess. Even in this stage of the surgery, machinery and flesh were already beginning establish a symbiotic relationship with each other, the former allowing Peach to survive even after sustaining critical injuries and the latter providing a place for the mechanical components to reside. The results would be very impressive in the end, he believed.
Just like all the subjects before the princess…
With his vehicle on an upward spiral back to the stadium, Falcon could feel a slight amount of uneasiness inside him. His previous thoughts regarding Magnus's possible actions in response to losing were returning to weaken his focus, which was potentially fatal in a dangerous environment like Fire Field. Even his entry into the recharging area did not soothe him in the slightest, for there was always the danger of being shoved right off the track due to a severe lack of railing.
But… was this the time to be distracted? No, it was not. Even in the face of impending doom, there was no choice but to remain strong, just to avoid cracking under pressure. This especially began to ring true when the Blue Falcon entered the second lap of the race…
CRACK!
…and when Magnus starting attacking him yet again.
"Now you're asking for it," the bounty hunter puffed. Decreasing his speed by a small amount, he switched to a more offensive approach by slamming the Unbound Serpent against the downward slope's railing. The task was easier said than done, for the dark vehicle's greater size once again worked in favor of its equally dark pilot. But, unlike Blood Falcon, the savior from Port Town played smart by avoiding retaliatory strikes with the right mix of boosting and drifting. As both sides accelerated through the loop and the wavy road, the dark Lord's aggressive personality overloaded his mind with sheer anger, forcing to attack in a way that seemed far too reckless for his own good; this played right into Falcon's hands, allowing him to counterattack without fear. As this event unraveled, however, an old rival was slowly creeping up from behind…
"Ugh… You too, Falcon?" Goroh moaned. "You never make things easy for me, all because of your massive ego." Zipping into a gap created by the two captains, the bandit boss immediately unleashed his fury.
WHACK! WH-CRACK! THUD!
"I don't have time for you, Goroh," Falcon harshly grunted. He engaged his boosters to escape, only to be met with a view of his foes executing the same action. "Stay out of my way."
"Arrogant bastard!" Magnus roared. As the leading trio leaped onto the cylinder, the dark Lord changed his current priority to finishing Goroh off for good. "Just die already!"
WHAM! WHOOSH-WHOOSH...!
"I hope you like dips into the lava, 'cause this is gonna get hot!" Goroh snorted. His vehicle was pushed to the absolute limit as it repeatedly performed a spinning motion that continuously battered the Unbound Serpent's heavy frame. With each attempt, Magnus was forced further sideways against his will, but that was not to say that he was unable to fight back; to the dark warrior's merit, his vehicle still had the edge in size and weight, however small it was when pitted against the Fire Stingray. This allowed him to even the odds when necessary. Falcon took notice of this scuffle and proceeded to soar ahead before it was too late.
"I'd hate to get stuck between those two," he sighed, temporarily ignoring the spiraling feeling that struck him on the way back to the stadium. With a few more pushes from the boosters, he was now isolated from the other racers, much like a wolf straying away from the rest of the pack.
"The distance between Falcon and the others is growing almost exponentially," Campbell commented. "He's dead set on claiming first place, but will there be an upset to stop him?"
"Who knows, Derek?" Kojima answered. "With both Hedin and Goroh battling it out, it seems unlikely that they'll redirect their attention to the Blue Falcon, but once again, anything can happen!"
"The rest of the competitors are passing through the finish line right now…" With loud whooshing, the machines passed through the stadium again to begin perhaps the most tension-inducing part of the race: the final lap. Boosters were now being utilized more frequently than before, the desire to win increased to ridiculous levels, and the violence aspect of the competition was more clear, especially with Magnus and Goroh lashing out at each other like feral animals. Anothing thing worth noting was the coincidental increase in volcanic activity; seconds prior to Falcon entering his final lap, the molten pillars were provoked by the planet's unstable forces to increase in both frequency and height, almost ensuring that at least one of the racers would get incinerated. Of course, this was not noticed until after the group passed through the stadium for the second time.
"Now this… is what I'd call fiery," Falcon remarked. Descending the ramp for the final time in the race, he switched up his strategy again, this time relying on his technical skills to avoid drenching his vehicle in boiling lava. Now that the others were far behind, there was almost no need to worry about them. At least not until later.
Further away, Magnus and Goroh were still in a tense struggle for power. The Fire Stingray was in a beaten state because of the continuous attacks, and it did not help that Magnus had kept him off the energy strips during the previous lap. It was reasonable to believe that the bandit would lose the race if he was harassed any further… or if he was thrown into the lava like Blood Falcon before him. However, the brash pilot was not one to accept defeat so lightly, as he was about to demonstrate in a few seconds.
"Take this!" he snarled. The Fire Stingray approached the Unbound Serpent, ready to kill…
CRACK!
"I grow tired of this game…" Magnus sighed heavily. As he prepared to strike again, he realized that there was a lava column sending a rain of hellfire onto the track. Some of the racers were already being impacted by this hazardous event, taking damage in the process. This image alone was enough to spark an idea within the dark captain's mind.
"Burn in the flames, Goroh!" he growled. Boosting his vehicle to remain close, he violently shoved Goroh right into the path of the molten rain. The Fire Stingray was, ironically enough in regards to its given name, partially roasted; patches of its frame were overheated to reveal the mechanical components underneath, and its window was now contaminated enough to cause problems with vision.
"What the hell, man?!" the bandit yelped. "I seriously have to get this crap off my vehicle?!" He was forced to perform an emergency spin on the loop to shake off the blazing fluid, but this was what left him open to attack.
CRACK!
The Fire Stingray now teetered on the very edge, coming so close to being thrown into the molten planet's surface. For perhaps the first time in years, Goroh felt nervous; while he was no stranger to deadly situations, the fact that he was about to suffer a slow, agonizing death was causing his earlier confidence to slowly crack under pressure. His heart felt like it was racing out of control, and his arms began to tremble a bit. Maybe this time, he would perish…
…unless he could gather the strength for one last push.
"No…" he muttered. "I ain't dying here. I won't let some obscure punk beat me in this race…" With the jump approaching one last time, he jerked his steering to the right…
CRACK!
"I won't lose to you, Hedin!" the bandit continued. Even as the dark captain proceeded to resist, the Fire Stingray now had the upper hand in the struggle, especially when its more flexible mobility allowed it to handle the track more easily. As the machines entered the area where the cylinder and upward spiral intersected, the Unbound Serpent was forced into the very same position that its victim managed to escape from.
"It's time to take a hot bath," Goroh concluded. With only one chance left before the strips were reached, he unleashed a powerful attack that finally knocked the Lord right off the track.
CRACK!
Time appeared to slow down for the criminal leader as he watched Magnus seemingly soar backwards into the fiery planet's surface. The Unbound Serpent appeared to shrink with distance until it was only a tiny speck against a canvas of fiery colors. Upon hitting the molten surface, the vehicle appeared to explode with a degree of intensity that would have introduced more light to the area, existing luminosity notwithstanding. Goroh let out a small smirk as he relished in his victory over the mysterious Lord and would have kept it for a longer length of time, had he not realized that another foe was the winner of this race.
"Captain Falcon now has three first-place wins for the Platinum Cup!" the boss could barely hear Campbell announce. Passing through the finish line, he noticed an image of the famous bounty hunter flashing on the stadium's front screen.
"Someday," Goroh sighed, "I'll finally dominate you in a race. Mark my words."
An hour after the race…
"Can't believe Goroh knocked Magnus out of the race," Falcon muttered as he watched a replay montage on a smaller monitor within Stewart's secondary vehicle. The bounty hunter had already placed the Blue Falcon inside with the help of a tractor beam and was now approaching the snow-filled Port Town to rest up for the next race. Speaking of which, maybe now was a good time to check on his teammates, especially since one of them was undergoing cybernetic reconstruction. He linked up his helmet to contact Stewart, who was overseeing the surgery, then waited for a few seconds. It was not long until he received a response.
"Hello, this is Doctor Stewart," the medic began. "What do you need?"
"This is Falcon," the bounty hunter answered. "How is Peach doing?"
"She is still in surgery, but we'll be done with her in the next few hours. We haven't encountered any problems so far, so I expect the rest of the operation to go smoothly. And as for the others, they handed me their charter about an hour after they were dropped off. How's everything on your end?"
The bounty hunter cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm done with the third race. So far, no one else has usurped my position as leader. Also, while I was leaving Fire Field, I realized that Samurai Goroh has eliminated Magnus Hedin, the Lord who registered for the race, by throwing his vehicle into burning lava. Magnus himself shouldn't be a problem from this point on, since his regenerative powers can't stand up to burns."
"Regenerative powers?"
"Given what Lillian said to us, the Lords are using a spell called Återuppliva, which supposedly gives them superior healing abilities and increased strength. However, this magic will fail if the user is burned or dismembered. It's a good thing that some of my partners have access to at least one attack from either category or we would've been easily stopped by the Lords."
"That's… interesting to know. Anyway, I'll contact you if I have more information at hand. Good luck on the rest of the Platinum Cup, Falcon."
"Thanks." As the captain closed the communications channel, he realized that he was now within approaching distance of his solitary home. Bringing his temporary vehicle to the back of his estate, he proceeded to land without a hitch. The Blue Falcon was dropped into the courtyard and then sent into the garage for safekeeping. As he retreated into the comfort of his house, he turned around momentarily to examine Stewart's secondary vehicle; overall, it closely resembled what the doctor would use to travel around Port Town, but it was much larger and had less coloring on the surface. There was also a large storage area further to the back.
"Industry-level vehicles," Falcon sighed. "They're always useful for getting the hard work done." The interior's warm air liberated him from the snowy climate's harsh chill as he entered the living room to relax for the time being. After grabbing an apple from the kitchen's fruit bowl, he switched his television set on to find something interesting to view. For what might seem like a minute, the search was weighed down by uninteresting content, such as cartoons, stale comedy shows, movies that were originally released for theatres, and vice versa. Occasionally, there was an interesting channel that popped up, but the bounty hunter still moved forward in case there was more good content down the road.
"I really wish the entertainment industry could show better stuff nowadays," the pilot sighed. He still searched hard but was suddenly forced to stop when he encountered a recent news report.
"This is just in," the reporter, a brown-haired man supposedly in his thirties, spoke. He was dressed in a gray suit with a red tie, the former contrasting with the bright background behind him. "Just a few minutes ago, there was an attack on the F-Zero stadium located on the hostile planet of Fire Field. The attackers and their motives have yet to be identified, but the damage that they've left in their wake was severe to cause most of the stadium to collapse into the lava below. Most of the people inside were reported by galactic authorities to have been killed during the assault. One of the survivors, longtime F-Zero announcer Derek Campbell, has claimed that he knows the exact details about the incident."
"What…?" Falcon muttered. His body was frozen as he absorbed the information presented by the news channel. Now the Lords were going to extreme measures, he believed, since Magnus was officially eliminated from the race and even roasted alive by lava. As he continued to watch, a live recording of the brown-haired Campbell zipped onto the right side of the screen. The hospitalized announcer was covered in bandages because of the cuts he had sustained during the attack, and his current clothing was a set of standardized patient attire.
"What happened at the stadium, Derek?" the reporter asked.
"The attack happened a few minutes after the F-Zero machines pulled out of the track," Campbell muttered. In contrast to the strong voice he was renowned for, his words were now tired and slightly wobbly. "As Masahiro Kojima and I were preparing to leave, the main power to the stadium was shut off. The maintenance workers were able to get the backup generator online, but we then a whispering voice loud enough to be heard by everyone."
"Tell me what that voice said."
Campbell shuffled around in his bed for a second or two. "The speaker was asking for the trophy because he believed that it contained a part to some magical staff that we had no idea about. When some of us stated that we could only hand the trophy over to the Platinum Cup's winner, he called us liars and infidels before stating that we would not stop his group's "savior" from being revived. Kojima and I insisted that we were being truthful, but that only enraged the speaker even further. Then, a group of dark figures swarmed into the stadium to attack us."
The reporting man's eyes widened by a noticeable degree. The thought of the mysterious figures raiding areas like Fire Field's stadium disturbed him. If they were given the chance, they could just as easily invade Port Town, perhaps even the very news station he was stuck in.
"And you were cut up by those figures, am I correct?" he muttered, trying to keep his composure.
"Yes," Campbell answered. "One of them, a female, entered the announcer's booth and proceeded to stab Kojima in the head with an icicle formed by magic. She then shattered that same projectile to throw smaller pieces into my body. Upon finding out that I was still standing, she caused a part of the booth to collapse on me by firing a strange beam of dark energy; the paramedics said I was lucky enough to survive that."
The rest of the conversation fell on deaf ears. With the Lords now resorting to violence, the fate of the Platinum Cup's later races fell into uncertainty. Whether they would actually take place or not was beyond Falcon's knowledge, especially with the safety of common citizens being a large priority to the authorities, but there was one thing that transcended all shadows of doubt; if the attacks continued to increase in both frequency and severity, then the Grand Prix would not continue. The Lords had to eventually be stopped before it was too late.
"I better head back to the hospital sometime before the next race starts," the bounty hunter whispered.
Five hours past noon…
"I only have an hour before the race in Mute City begins." Falcon strolled into his garage to bring the Blue Falcon into the borrowed ship before venturing out to the hospital. The cold air seemed to sting his skin as he finished all preparations, but this feeling of discomfort did not last long because of his very short exposure. As the carrier exited the chain of islands, the captain noticed a strange, orange-colored glow suddenly emerging from one of Port Town's many skyscrapers. There was also a distant cracking sound, but the vehicle's isolated interior prevented him from hearing it.
"What do we have here?" he mumbled in a semi-sarcastic manner. The snow's stronger presence obscured the exact details of the unusual event because of a white shade forming from the frozen drops themselves, but it failed to stop the vehicle from flying over the cold waters to investigate whatever potential problem was present. A low hum dominated the auditory landscape and blocked out all other sources of sound, especially when the bounty hunter was all alone in this very instant. The trip to the strange light was short, but its end was not pleasant in the slightest. In fact…
"You have got to be kidding me right now," Falcon gasped. In front of him was a massive hole on the side of a pale-colored skyscraper spanning a few kilometers high. The hole was very jagged and did not form any shape known to the world, which was complimented by cracks that extended a good distance into the glass. Inside, multiple floors were in flames and property was scattered in no defined order. Most of the lights were disabled through extensive damage, but there were some that managed to stay intact in the face of destruction. There were no bodies in clear view, but this did not make the scenery any less disturbing. As a matter of fact, there was a sinister message just underneath the hole; like the ones witnessed by the Sonic Phantom and Great Star, it was scrawled with blood of unknown origin. The exact words were:
SUBMIT OR DIE, PORT TOWN
"I better let the others know about this ASAP," the bounty hunter sighed. Time slowed down for him as he rushed to the hospital with all due haste; it only seemed like mere seconds had passed by upon reaching the area when the actual length of time was much longer. Setting his temporary vehicle inside a parking lot after passing through the necessary clearance, he strolled quickly into the main lobby and then into one of the elevators leading up to the upper floors.
Inside Stewart's office…
"Y'know," Dedede sighed, "As comfortable as this place is, it's starting to make feel so bored. I hope that Falcon gets back here soon or I'll go insane within the next hour."
"I don't think you'll go insane that easily, Dedede," Red muttered. His cap was removed from his head to fully reveal his brushed hair. "I will, however, say that I'm about as bored as you are. I can't wait to see the results of Peach's surgery; if Falcon doesn't arrive within the next hour or so, then at least there will be something interesting to take a gander at."
"Poyo," Kirby puffed.
"Puff," the Balloon Pokémon also agreed.
"Poyo-"
But before the Dream Land inhabitant could finish his sentence, there came forth the sounds of boots thumping outside the office. The remaining Smashers gathered around the door's translucent window to figure out who was approaching, but the range of visibility was too limited for any of them to identify the person. Dedede's bulk also did not help because it prevented the others from obtaining a desirable position.
"You're taking up too much space," Red complained calmly. His efforts to gently shove the king aside were in vain due to the huge discrepancy between the former's physical strength and the latter's weight.
"Are you calling me fat?" Dedede puffed. His glare at the young man indicated a subtle anger stemming from what could be interpreted as an insult regarding his mass.
"Well, you are one of the larger Smashers and, unlike Bowser or Ganondorf, have a lot of fat in your body."
"Hey, don't be calling me out on my-"
Thud… Thud…
"Can you open up the door?" the speaker, Falcon, called out.
"Wait, that's Captain Falcon we're hearing," Red muttered. "We better open up the door for him."
"Agreed," R.O.B. complimented. As Dedede gently tugged the door open, the bounty hunter's full appearance was brought into the dim lighting of the doctor's office. Jigglypuff and Kirby reacted to this event with relief as they were now ready to be freed from the boredom that had plagued them since sunrise.
"Hey, how'd you do?" Red asked.
"I won the race at Fire Field, but the stadium got destroyed by the Lords almost immediately afterwards," Falcon sighed deeply. "Did any of you guys see the report on the news?"
"Stewart showed us a snippet of the article on his tablet. The damage dealt was bad enough to send most of the structure falling into the lava below. Why are you asking us about this?"
"Because there's been a recent incident in this city. While I was leaving my home, I came across a massive hole on the side of a skyscraper that was most likely created by a bomb. The Lords have been definitely stepping up their game since Magnus was killed by Goroh on Fire Field."
"And how would you know that they're the ones who caused the explosion?" Dedede asked.
"Because I noticed a message scrawled in blood under the blast zone. It was asking for the citizens of Port Town to either submit to the Lords or perish. Also, another thing worth noting is that the style of writing used here is the same type that was present back when the Skull and Mister EAD were eliminated from the Platinum Cup."
The king's jaw dropped out of horror. "Uh oh… Now the city is in serious trouble. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it looks like we better head back to the factory hideout and destroy it. If we can do that, then we'll be able to cripple their operations permanently."
"Poyo?" Kirby asked, bringing the matter of Peach's operation into the conversation. "Poyo-poyo."
"I don't think Peach is through with her surgery. We'll have to continue our mission without her." The conversation was then interrupted by the sound of a person approaching the office.
"Is that Stewart?" Falcon asked.
"Jigglypuff," the Pokémon replied in the affirmative. "Jigglypuff, puff."
"He said he would be back here at five, huh?" As the captain redirected his attention towards the door, he was introduced to a view of his old friend, whose surgical mask was now absent.
"I guess you should be lucky that you left Fire Field's stadium in time," the doctor remarked as he stared at Falcon. "Anyway, Peach's surgery is finally complete. Do you want to see the results?"
"Yes. Take us to the operating room."
"Right this way." Stewart guided the group out of his office, through the many hallways that made up a good portion of the hospital, and into the area where Peach's surgery had occurred. Passing through the cube-like room and heading down a small set of stairs, the Smashers were introduced to a room with moderately low lighting, with much of the light being focused at the very center; the dark areas would have likely caused a clumsy person to trip in seconds, not that Falcon and his partners were like that at all. It was during this moment that the finished product of the surgery was fully revealed.
"Well, I gotta admit," Red muttered. "That looks pretty badass." Peach, with all the technology installed into her body, was now a combat-grade cyborg. With the sole exception of most of her head, her skin was replaced by a sleek, durable, and flexible alloy that was colored pink at most areas of her limbs and torso, excluding her gray-tinted thighs, upper arms, and stomach. There were tiny light panels that were spread across in an orderly fashion, with a larger one placed right at the chest area; because her cybernetic body was not fully powered up, they currently lacked any glow whatsoever. The joints, be they the elbows or the knees, inherited a more ball-like shape that contrasted with the appearance of nature-given limbs. Her missing eye was replaced with a cybernetic device that was presumably capable of offering enhanced vision capabilities. The remaining skin was more pale than usual, though most of the Smashers were not able to figure why this was the case. To top it off, a few wires from the ceiling above were connected to the cyborg princess's body through ports on the neck and chest. Overall, the surgery's product was something to behold.
"Poyo," Kirby muttered.
"It took us long hours to make sure that everything was in place, but it was worth all the effort," Stewart replied. "Now, she'll be awake in just a second."
"Puff…?" Jigglypuff scratched the back of its head in response to the last comment, but before it could say anything else, Peach could be heard moaning quietly as she slowly awakened. All others turned to witness the panels on her body beginning to glow a pale blue, with the chest area possessing the greatest luminosity. The cybernetic eye also inherited a colorful light, but it was grass-colored to slightly contrast with the panels. Quiet whirring noises were heard as the limbs moved very slowly.
"Where am I?" the princess muttered, but she then froze when a computerized screen suddenly appeared over her right eye. Initially, only the following words were present:
CHECKING ALL SYSTEMS…
Confused, she attempted to rub the eye with her left hand, but stopped yet again upon noticing the hand's mechanical nature. A slow visual sweep revealed to her the new composition of her cybernetic body, with machinery extending from head to toe. With this revelation, panic began to boil up inside of her like an overheated liquid as she struggled to comprehend the changes made to her by Stewart and his team.
"You…" she sputtered, staring at the doctor. "You made me into a…"
"Woah, calm down," Falcon ordered. "It's nothing to be freaked out about. Stewart and his team made you into a cyborg to save your life."
"But what about the rest of the Smashers? What about Mario? How do you think they'll see me when I get back to the Smash Mansion?"
"Relax," Dedede sighed. "I'm pretty sure Mario won't see you in a different light than before, and neither will most of the others. Besides, even if they do make fun of you, your body is equipped with… ways of coercing them to stop."
The princess remained silent for the next few seconds. Reflecting upon Dedede's previous comment, she began to wonder if he was being truthful. Peach herself had always harbored a fear of not only being ridiculed for her appearance, but for falling victim to a fake type of kindness; both could be traced all the way back to her childhood. During her early school years, a bully would sometimes show up to cause her trouble solely because of the way she dressed, and such a person would mostly use tactics of false kindness to lure her in. While this problem was not too frequent in occurrence, mainly due to her royal parents acting against families of said bullies, it was still enough to cause the fear to be implanted inside her mind.
So, was Dedede using false kindness to throw her into a social trap? If not, then what did he mean by "ways"?
STATUS OK. ACTIVATING RETINAL DISPLAY…
The words flashed across in a split second. Before long, a full-fledged display was in full view of her right eye. The upper boundary contained a small compass allowing her to discern one direction from another; as she twisted her head slightly, the letters dotting the line shifted in the opposite direction. The lower right corner was home to a motion tracker that would react to people moving nearby through the presence of dots. The upper part of the circle was marked by an inverted triangle to represent her line of sight. On the lower left area was a map generated by her connection to an online tracking system pervading the whole galaxy. The center of the lower boundary was marked by an assortment of letters and numbers that took on this pattern:
ZXM900-01
"Can you stand?" Stewart asked. The princess responded by removing her feet from the metallic platform and planting them into the cold ground. Her stance was wobbly at first, but upon taking a few steps to approach the other Smashers, she successfully remained standing. The wires connected to her body were removed as this event occurred.
"I guess she's all good," Red chirped.
"Hey," Peach sighed, "I'm sorry if I got too tense earlier. It's just that I have never experienced such a major event like this."
"Don't sweat it, Princess," Falcon grunted. "There's nothing for you to worry about, socially at least."
"Yeah," Dedede added. Coupled with his tone of voice, his expression of kindness was now a clear sign that he was not luring the princess into something humiliating. "We mean this with all honesty."
"Doctor Stewart, sir?" the spiky-haired surgeon, who was now entering the room, asked. "You may need to look at this."
"What is it?" the doctor asked. After speaking, he followed his subordinate out of the room while being accompanied by the Smashers. Eventually reaching the front lobby on the first floor, the group of eight were introduced to something strange.
"The hospital's television screens no longer have access to any of the channels," the surgeon stated. His right hand began pressing a few buttons on one of the monitors. "I've tried flipping through every single one of them, but it's no good."
"I'll request a maintenance team to fix this problem," Stewart sighed. "For now, just return to your normal duties."
"Hey, something tells me that this problem isn't limited to the hospital," Falcon announced. As he pointed his right index finger at a window revealing a good portion of Port Town's central district, the Smashers gathered around to find out that most of the digital signs were also disrupted. Static replaced vibrant colors and animations, leaving the area slightly less appealing to the eye. But this problem would only become more chilling when all screens were restored... only to bring a dark image to all those present.
"What the hell?" Falcon gasped. There was now what appeared to be a black silhouette of an unidentified man standing against a dark gray background.
"Citizens of Port Town…" the speaker's voice boomed. Falcon had to open the window for the sake of auditory clarity. "Within your city is a piece of an ancient artifact that we hope to revive our savior with. It is attached to the first-place trophy for the ongoing Platinum Cup, and we will obtain it using any means necessary. We have already annihilated the stadium at Mute City to prevent anyone in the competition from stealing it away from us…"
"Jigglypuff!" the Balloon Pokémon chirped, ignoring the speaker's intimidating presence.
"Wait, what are you saying?" Red asked.
"Cross-referencing of saved images and audio clips completed," R.O.B. beeped. "Speaker is identified as Magnus Hedin."
"But I thought he was dead. Falcon told me that he was clearly incinerated back at Fire Field."
"…unless he's used something to resurrect himself," Falcon muttered. "Keep in mind that Lillian told us Återuppliva cannot withstand burns or dismemberment, so we don't know what exactly we're dealing with here."
The dark figure, now known to the Smashers as Magnus, continued to speak. "…and if the piece is not handed over to us by tomorrow, we will destroy your precious city. We also ask for Captain Falcon, the champion that you so dearly revere, and his allies to step forth and surrender to us at the abandoned mine on the edges of this metropolis. Do not forget our demands or you will suffer for your failure to comply."
The video vanished immediately and all normal programming resumed. Falcon immediately turned to face Stewart with a dark expression on his face.
"Magnus must've used his subordinates to hack into every broadcasting station in town," the captain grunted. "That's my best guess; we still don't know much about the Lords in general. Anyway, we're heading to the mining cavern at midnight."
"What?" the doctor gasped in heavy concern. "You're going to surrender to that bastard?"
Falcon nodded his head in disgust. "I will not be doing that. Instead, I'm going to bring him a little surprise."
"What about us?" the cyborg Peach questioned. "We can help you if the going gets too tough."
"I'll have all of you tag along with me. Besides, this upcoming scenario can make good use of your enhancements, Princess."
"Speaking of enhancements," Stewart added. "I'll be sending a document showcasing how to your equipment to your retinal display. There's a neural implant that allows us to send information over to you when necessary, and it can also use wireless communication to connect to most networks."
With nothing else to say, all party members exited the hospital to prepare for a grueling battle…
Hours earlier, after Agnetha's defeat…
"This is becoming troublesome," the leader of the Lords sighed. "Two of the captains have already failed me in their mission to revive the Holy Serpent. If this continues, all of our losses will have been for nothing."
"Mästare!" a Lord announced. "I have more terrible news for you. It appears that Lady Agnetha Lindgren, the captain that you sent into the Mushroom World, has died."
The leader let out a sigh of disbelief. Now there were three captains who had failed to retrieve the pieces from their assigned worlds, but this occurrence disturbed him far more than the others. Somehow, the Smash Brothers in the Mushroom World had disrupted Agnetha's healing powers, but how? An investigation had to be undertaken before it was too late, but there was another reason why the redhead's death concerned him. However, it was too early to reveal such information now…
"She is dead…" he quietly whispered. "Bring her body to me as soon as you can."
"As you wish." As the Lord retreated out of the room, the leader began to reflect upon Agnetha's death.
"Oh, Agnetha… What have they done to you? You certainly do not deserve death, unlike the beings who oppose us or the captains who have failed me… I will do what I can to assist you…"
As he fell silent, he began reaching underneath his chair to pull out a book of personal memories...
Around midnight…
"Once we get inside, there's no turning back," Falcon whispered to himself. He was driving his trusty vehicle to the very same mine where he battled Deathborn, a mechanical madman who sought to control light and dark for his own purposes. The two puffballs were small enough to fit inside the cockpit with him, but Dedede was forced to be carried by Charizard, who was also transporting its owner to the destination. R.O.B. and Peach were soaring through the air with the help of their thrusters; the latter, due to a lack of experience, was shaky in keeping her path straight, but she was careful enough to avoid crashing into anything of significant mass. With minutes, they passed through a rusted gate that concealed a deathtrap created by the Lords themselves.
"It's getting pretty dark in here," Dedede mumbled under his breath. R.O.B. and Peach tapped into their night vision while the Blue Falcon's headlights immediately activated when the lighting became too dim for unassisted navigation. Faint tapping was heard with echoes following immediately thereafter; to some, it was as if a minor event was stuck in a temporary time loop. The puffballs could feel tension emerging from their squeezable bodies because of the darkness, which could very well be concealing another threat besides Magnus. But such an unnerving feeling would dissipate when the group reached the end, which was marked by some illumination.
"Puff," Jigglypuff squeaked. Staring at the scenery, it noticed that most of the warm light was leaking from lava flows placed meters below. Sharp stalactites dotted the ceiling, and they were numerous enough create a potential death sentence for someone who was launched upwards. Another object glued to the top of the area was a rusted frame that seemed to match the scenery's set of colors. A single track composed entirely of metal reached into the farther parts of the cavern, but not much of it was witnessed from the Pokémon's point of view. Despite being abandoned for a very long time, the overall mine still harbored a dark feeling of impending doom, even when removing the fact that Magnus and his entire army were most likely hiding within the shadows to strike terror into their next victims.
"Be ready for anything," Falcon whispered. As he stopped his vehicle, he and the puffballs slowly crawled out of the cockpit with fists tightly clenched and stubby arms down, respectively. Charizard set both of its passengers down on the ground, and the two mechanical Smashers deactivated their flight systems. None of them could travel far, however, when Magnus's voice was suddenly heard from a short distance away.
"So, are you ready to surrender to us?" the obese man snarled. "I hope you are only here for that and not to commit some act of treachery against me."
"Not a chance, Magnus," Falcon replied calmly. "If you want the staff piece, then you must get through me. I challenge you to a battle of racers."
The dark captain's face tightened out of anger. Such an act was not acceptable by his standards. In fact, he could just kill that persistent thorn in his side right now. "You fool! I thought you had come here to surrender, not drag me into some stupid challenge!"
The bounty hunter was unaffected by Magnus's fury. "Yeah, but guess what? I'm not giving you any other choice. Either accept my request, or leave this damn realm for good. I want to give you a fair chance at obtaining the staff piece since taking your whole army down the old-fashioned way seems too easy for my group, especially for the woman that you nearly killed."
"As much as I prefer to avoid violence," Peach added, her cybernetic eye locking on to Magnus's position via targeting system, "I won't hesitate to completely rip you and your troops to shreds, and neither will the rest of us."
"Hmph! I ought to…"
But the Lord was unable to finish his sentence. With the angered eyes of most Smashers aimed right at him, it was clear that they were not willing to back away from their intended plan. He had hoped to simply steal the piece and be done with everything without resistance from others, but this was now happening. Furthermore, the mention of Falcon and his group easily tearing through his own troops spoke to him in volumes due to Återuppliva's weaknesses being exploited relentlessly to where his own squadron had been reduced to a small fraction of its original size. While he was not vulnerable to this problem because of his secondary spell, it was still a major cause for concern.
Lastly, Falcon was competent enough to survive his wrath for so long when others, save for Goroh, quickly succumbed. Yes, he was a worthy opponent in his eyes; with nothing else standing in the way, maybe he could take on the pilot's challenge and even claim the one victory that had been denied to him one too many times.
"…very well," the dark captain sighed. "We shall hold a one-on-one race, here and now. As for your teammates, I will have my troops deal with them."
"If I win," Falcon declared, "Then you must leave this place. If you win, then the piece will be yours to take."
"I will hold you up to your deal." With his magic, Magnus brought out the Unbound Serpent, fully rebuilt after exposure to lava, and quickly hopped into the vehicle. As the bounty hunter retreated to the Blue Falcon, a swarm of Lords slowly descended from the shadows above to confront the other Smashers. To prepare for a battle to the death, Red sent out Charizard from its Poké Ball while Kirby and Dedede pulled their hammers out. Jigglypuff and R.O.B. remained motionless as they simply stared at the dark beings before them. A panel on Peach's right forearm opened to reveal an energy cannon; the cannon itself was cylinder-shaped, spanned most of the panel's length, and was connected to the rest of her cybernetic body by wires and a thin frame placed underneath.
"I hope this won't suck as much as last time," Dedede puffed.
"This time, you will lose," Magnus sneered as he and Falcon guided their vehicles to the track. Once they were in place, all was silent as a single Lord, using spheres of dark energy, started the countdown to the race's beginning. One by one, the three projectiles began to dissolve…
I would like to think of my planned actions as a way of exacting the perfect revenge against the Lords. They nearly killed me with a bomb planted on the Falcon Flyer, and now they will dearly regret committing such a heinous act against me. With the document that Stewart sent to me, it turns out that I have a ton of equipment installed into my new body: lasers, explosives, a flight system, the list goes on. All of it will be useful in tearing those cultists a new one, and it will also be a guaranteed way of overpowering Bowser if he tries to kidnap me again.
But… I'm still a little nervous as to how the Smashers may see me once I come back. I can only pray that they don't send me into a humiliating scenario. As for Mario, I hope he's alright on his journey…
-Peach Toadstool
And the final race is about to begin. With nothing else in the way, who will win? The F-Zero pilot or the dark warrior?
It took me a while to get this chapter up because I had to transfer all my files to a new laptop that I had received for Christmas, but it was also because I was struggling to find good ideas for this part of the story. As for the next chapter, I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than the fact that it will reveal where the trophy is at this whole time.
A/N:
-In F-Zero X, if your vehicle spins too fast around a cylinder, you will pretty much fall to your death.
R&R, like always.