Moving on, now. Things start to get interesting here.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own F-Zero. Nintendo owns it. Happy?
Chapter 2: The Student VS the Teacher
Three days passed. Velos continued to repair his parents' machine, now by inheritance his. Breaking only for sleep and food, Velos allowed the knowledge he accumulated over his years of effort to guide him. As he dragged the welder across the final crack, fusing its broken edges together, he lifted his goggles and smiled.
The Cyber Chariot looked exactly like it did four years ago. The main body, consisting of two connected sections, was a sort of dark grey with orange circuit board-like patterns running across it. The cockpit stood on a pedestal on the machine's larger right side, a wide glass visor allowing for visibility and fins poking from the sides and top for enhanced sleekness. The booster was essentially three small but powerful engines connected in a honeycomb-like way with two fins poking from the top corners.
It was ready.
"Whew," Velos sighed to himself. "Finally finished."
He set his welder down on a table positively covered in dust, along with various other power tools that looked factory-new compared to where they sat.
"Neelson usually limps in at around this time of day," Velos said to himself. "He should be here right about…now."
Right on cue, Neelson hobbled in. The minute he saw the completed Cyber Chariot, his wrinkled lips cracked into a wide smile.
"Ha-ha-ha!" Neelson laughed. "Way to go, kiddo! It took you three years, but you finally fixed your folks' machine!"
Still laughing like the happy old man he was, Neelson approached the machine for closer inspection.
"Let me guess," Neelson said, "you took off the other cockpit because you didn't need it?"
"Yep," Velos nodded. "I figured that, since I was going to be the only pilot, I wouldn't need the extra cockpit."
"Well, kiddo," Neelson said, clapping Velos on the back, "you did it. Now you can finally truly honor your parents by racing. And I know just how to put everything I've taught you to the test."
"And how's that?" Velos asked, leaning back against his machine.
"You and me, kiddo," Neelson said, "one-on-one!"
"Where at?" Velos asked, excitement beginning to boil within him.
"Well, right here!" Neelson exclaimed, sweeping his hands to the sides to gesture to the immediate area. "Right here, in Mute City! The Night Thunder's outside, I'll go out there and make sure everything's working like it should. You do the same."
Neelson left, muttering something about how machines broke down so easily. Velos shook his head, unable to hide a smile. Sometimes his mentor was such a strange man.
Velos approached his machine, and after a quick once-over to seek out any remaining damage, the cockpit split in half, allowing him entry.
"Okay," Velos said to himself as he sat in the chair, cockpit closing. "Accelerate, brake, steering…okay, I'm good."
For the first time in four years, the Cyber Chariot came to life with a resonating roar. Slowly, the machine levitated out of the garage, making a three point turn so as to be alongside Neelson's Night Thunder. At the same time, Neelson clambered into his own cockpit, which took up the entire middle section of the machine.
The race was about to begin.
Both machines' engines roared as each one's booster began to blaze. Velos' adrenaline was pumping. This was his first real F-Zero race.
"Last one to the diner buys!" Neelson called. "Ready…set…go!"
Both machines took off in a blast, though Velos had a slightly slower start. As the road was relatively clear, Neelson had no need to weave in and out to keep his lead. But he knew Velos: the young racer had a trick up his sleeve, he figured.
Velos did.
A simple twist of a stick activated Velos' booster, and the superior blast catapulted the Cyber Chariot ahead of the Night Thunder. Chuckling slightly, Neelson activated his own booster, and as the Night Thunder's booster was just as strong as that of the Cyber Chariot, he caught up to his competitor within seconds.
"Not bad so far, kiddo!" Neelson laughed.
"Thanks," Velos replied, "you're doing decently, yourself. You're still buying, though."
"Oh, we'll see about that, kid!" Neelson smirked, activating his booster again in tandem with Velos.
The two racers began to weave in between each other's paths, each attempting to ensure victory for themselves. Finally, as the curve approaching the diner came in sight, Velos made a sharp turn and swiftly slid into the lane beside the diner, coming to a stop. The Night Thunder, however, had gripping ability lower than that of the Cyber Chariot, and as a result Neelson lost much speed making the turn, stopping behind Velos and coming in second in their short race.
"Ha-ha-ha!" Neelson guffawed as he exited the Night Thunder, approaching Velos who also climbed down from the Cyber Chariot's boosted cockpit. "You did great, kiddo, you did great! You just beat someone who's been racing for decades! Decades, I tell you!"
"Hey, don't be getting senile on me yet, Neelson," Velos said, though unable to hide a smile at his accomplishment. "You're still buying."
****
As it was on a highly public, though relatively vacant road, Velos and Neelson's street race did not go unnoticed. In the headquarters of the Galaxy Mobile Platoon, all the members' eyes focused on a television screen mounted on the wall. Each had different reactions to what they saw on the newscast.
"This afternoon," began the newscaster, "a brief street race involving the F-Zero racer known as Silver Neelson and his unknown opponent took place in Mute City, ending at the Galaxy Diner."
Jody Summer, the Platoon's leader and spokesperson for the Federation, furrowed her brow. Spiky-haired Jack Levin, one of two pop stars who turned to F-Zero racing, simply smirked. The rather obese Dr. Clash raised one eyebrow at this development. Lucy Liberty, a young red-haired girl, stared intently at the screen, trying her best to see through the Cyber Chariot's visor, but to know avail. Ryu Suzaku, pilot of the Dragon Bird, joined Clash in the raising of eyebrows.
The other members of the Platoon had different reactions. Dr. Stewart, a surgeon who became a racer upon his father's death, put a hand to his chin in thought. The one member who had no reaction was Mr. EAD, a mustached android created by the development group rather fittingly called EAD. Mr. EAD merely retained a blank stare, analyzing as many details as he could.
"Longtime fans of the F-Zero may recognize the opposing machine as the Cyber Chariot," continued the newscaster. "Up until the accident four years ago, it was piloted by the husband-and-wife team of Roderick and Felicity Inner, both of whom are known to have perished in the crash caused by fellow racer Pico. Eyewitnesses assume that their only son, Velos, has taken up the mantle of racing."
"Can't say I blame the kid," Jack chuckled.
"This is serious, Jack," Jody said with the sternness she was well-known amongst her fellow Platoon members for. "I'm quite sure Velos doesn't have a license to race. Even Michael Chain, of all people, has a license."
"True," interjected Dr. Stewart, his hand never for a second parting from his chin. "One would think Velos would enroll in the Training School. That is, if he wanted to legally race in the Grand Prix."
"My data files indicate that Super Arrow came out of the accident with little injury," stated Mr. EAD. "Velos may dislike Super Arrow for that reason, seeing as his parents were killed in the crash."
"Yeah, I sometimes wonder how that cheese-ball got to be the representative of the F-Zero," said Ryu, shaking his head.
"I think he's mad at the Federation, too, for putting him in that orphanage," Lucy said quietly. "That's what I heard back in Port Town, after Neelson got him out."
"Anyone else think we should have told Tanaka that was a bad idea?" Jack suggested.
"Like it or not, John is our superior," Jody answered. "We follow the orders he gives, no matter how foolish they may seem."
"So, what do we do about Velos?" Jack asked.
"We wait to see what he becomes," said Jody simply.
****
Meanwhile, the same news broadcast was seen by another pair of eyes…one hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.
In an abandoned apartment, a bald, muscular dark-skinned man allowed a twisted smile to curve his features.
"That kid could be the missing link I've been looking for," the man said to himself, "the link that might save the Bloody Chain."
****