CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Start Your Engines!
November 14th, 2053
McCloud's House
The doorbell rang. Marcus yelped and his head shot up. The bell rang again. He checked his bedside clock. It was 10:30 in the morning.
He frowned. He really hated getting up early in the morning if it wasn't for something important.
"This had better be good." he grumbled.
He opened the door and slid down the banister.
"I got it!" he called into the kitchen.
Marcus grabbed the doorknob and opened the front door. Chase was standing there, doubled over.
"Chase? What are you doin' here so early? It's not even 11:00!"
The young Toad took a moment to catch is breath, then he stood up.
"First off, nice jammies." he said.
Marcus looked down at the clothes he had worn to bed (A black shirt with a large, golden triad on it and a pair of black pajama pants that had the same triads stenciled all over it, along with the words "The Legend of Zelda" on one leg.)
Marcus sighed.
"Yeah, I know. I've got Zelda fanboyism. What's up?"
"Trust me; this is important."
Chase thrust a newspaper clipping into Marcus' hands.
"That was in today's paper. Read it."
Marcus heaved out a sigh. looked at the clipping and began to read it aloud. Fox and Krystal looked at the clipping over his shoulder.
"Attention Cornerian speed demons." Marcus read. "The F-Zero Grand Prix will be coming to Corneria on November 16th. Racers from across the cosmos will be on Corneria the day before the race. If you have a vehicle that's fast, durable, and has a great grip on the road, come to the Cornerian Global Raceway and register your racer ASAP. The winner will receive 100,000 Cornerian dollars and a top-of-the-line manufactured Mach 4 speed converter for their vehicle! Admission fee is fifty dollars. Entries must be made one day prior to race day."
Marcus looked up from the clipping.
"Oh…my…God!" he said.
"Those converters are backwards-compatible on space fighters, too!" Chase said. "If you can win that race, I can duplicate the converter and add it onto our Arwings!"
"100,000…" Marcus muttered.
"Hey, I think Dad actually once entered that to get some extra cash for the team. I gotta say, he was pretty good." Fox said.
"100,000…"
"That sounds like a whole lot of fun! Just imagine how intense that would be!" Krystal said.
"100,000!"
He thrust his arms up in the air and screamed, "I'm in!"
"Whoa, hang on there, buddy!" Fox spoke up. "This is F-Zero we're talking about. It's no walk in the park. No one ever gets out of there without a few bumps and bruises."
"Besides," Krystal added. "There's tons of racers with unbelievable experience that compete in that race every year. There's legendary racers like Black Shadow, Pico, Mr. EAD…not to mention the most famous of them all: Captain Falcon!"
Marcus stopped in his tracks when he heard that final name. Douglas Jay Falcon, or simply Captain Falcon, was one of the greatest bounty hunters and F-Zero racers of all time He never missed the chance to race a formidable opponent. His machine, the Blue Falcon, had unsurpassed speed and grip. Plus, Falcon had never lost a race or missed a bounty in his life. In fact, the only bounty hunter that was better than him was the alien-raised Samus Aran, but she lived in a galaxy that no Lylat denizen had ever managed to reach, even at light speed.
Marcus clenched his fist. He had to at least try. Even if Falcon was there he still had a chance of winning and obtaining global fame. (Not that he didn't have that already)
Besides, he wasn't going to let one guy intimidate him into chickening out.
"Well, it's worth a shot, isn't it?" he said.
Everyone else stopped for a second, then grinned.
"He still has the guts he's famous for." Fox chuckled.
"Okay." Krystal said. "But we're going to help you. Chase, I think it would be a good idea if you brought Slippy down to help."
Both boys shot their arms in the air.
"Yeah!" they cheered.
1 hour later
"An F-Zero machine, huh?" Slippy asked when Marcus told him his idea. "Sounds like an interesting project."
"Is that a yes?" Marcus asked.
Slippy grinned and nodded.
"You rock, Dad! You rock!" Chase cheered.
They were standing in the McClouds' massive garage. No one really did anything there, but it was where they kept their hovercrafts and tools if they ever needed them.
"I brought over a spare Arwing hull." Slippy said, jerking his thumb at the open garage door. "I was gonna take it to be recycled, but it looks like we've found another use for it!"
Fox clapped his hands together.
"Alright! Bring 'er in and let's get to work!
"Hang on a sec, Fox!" Slippy warned. "You guys have a whole buncha loose clothing on. You should put on something tighter before we start."
"We took that in mind before you came." Marcus said.
With that, the McClouds pulled off their T-shirts. Fox and Marcus both wore muscle shirts (Fox's black, Marcus' navy blue), while Krystal had on a pink tank top. She pulled a bandana out of her pocket and tied it around her hair to keep it out of her eyes.
Chase's mouth dropped when he got a load of Krystal. Marcus rolled his eyes and poked his friend's forehead.
"First Katt and now my mom?" Marcus said. "Next I suppose you're gonna go all ga-ga on Samus Aran!"
Chase shook his head.
"Sorry."
He threw off his jacket and fedora, then grabbed a welding torch off the wall.
"OK, Dad. Bring it in and let's get crackin'."
Slippy pulled the Arwing hull into the room. Everyone grabbed a tool and got started.
2 and a half hours later
Marcus hammered down one last metal plate on the fuselage before falling flat on his butt. Fox doubled over, panting. Krystal took off her bandana and swiped her hand across her forehead.
"Jeez, I haven't worked this hard since we redesigned the Great Fox!" Chase said.
Marcus stood back a little bit. It was starting to look more like an F-Zero machine than an Arwing. They had straightened the wings out and added an engine, rocket thrusters and a low-frequency G-Diffuser.
"You think we'll have it finished by tomorrow?" Marcus asked.
"We will." Fox said. "It's lookin' good so far, but it still needs a decent paint job."
Slippy hopped down from the fuselage.
"I tightened the last few screws on the engine. It still needs a little bit of work before we're done."
Suddenly, the engine threw out sparks with a loud crack. Slippy leaped back in surprise. Everyone else was looking at him with awkward looks on their faces.
"…We can fix that." Slippy said, pointing at the engine.
Everyone groaned.
2 hours later
Marcus slowly touched the flames from the welding torch to the engine and pieced on an extra plate to the metal frame. It stuck firmly. He threw off the welding mask, turned off the torch, shut the door on the fuselage and everyone stood back to admire their finished work.
The machine had a twin-turbine engine, Magnum 8 rocket thrusters, a titanium-alloy hull and a G-Diffuser system with a minimal output. It looked relatively like an Arwing, except the bottom was flat, the cannons had been removed and the wings were pointed straight back instead of out on an angle.
"Now THAT'S some quality engineering!" Marcus said, crossing his arms and smirking.
Slippy grabbed a gas container, opened the fuel tank and poured about five liters of petroleum into the opening.
"She's all set!" Slippy said, stepping back. "Go ahead, Mark! Give 'er a whirl!"
Marcus opened the cockpit and carefully pressed the ignition button. The engine roared to life and the machine rose a few inches off the ground.
"YES!" Marcus cheered. "It works!"
Fox and Krystal stood next to their son and smiled.
"She's ready to win, kiddo!" Fox said.
"But making something as nifty as this sure is thirsty work!" Krystal said, reaching in and turning off the machine with a single flick of her wrist. "Let's go inside and have something to drink."
Everyone followed Krystal inside. Marcus took a second to look back at their work. He smiled.
"…I kinda wish someone was playing 'We Are the Champions' right now." he said to himself.
He rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face and shut the door.
12:00 a.m.
Marcus' eyes flew open. It was dark.
"Time to work on that machine!" he whispered to himself.
He climbed out of bed, reached underneath it and pulled out a can of crystalline blue paint, then carefully crept over to his door and opened it. Out in the hall, Marcus listened at his parents' door. He could hear their sleepy breathing inside the room.
"Sleep tight, you guys." Marcus whispered.
He tiptoed down the stairs, through the corridor and into the garage. He shut the door and turned on the light. Marcus grabbed the two things he needed: a paint sprayer and a gas mask. He locked the can of paint into the sprayer, fit the mask over his head and stepped over to his F-Zero machine.
Carefully, he shook the paint sprayer to loosen up the paint a little. When he was ready, he pulled the trigger and a thin layer of crystalline blue paint sprayed on the hull.
1 and a half hours later
The paint had dried and now the entire machine was sparkling with color. Marcus still didn't take off the gas mask. He wasn't finished just yet. He grabbed a thin, long sheet of paper and brought it over to the computer scanner.
He laid the paper flat out on the scanner, then logged on to the printing program on the computer. After adjusting the width and the length, Marcus placed a text box into the picture and thought of a name.
Only one thing came to mind at that moment. He smiled and typed in a few letters, then hit the Print button. When the decal was finished, Marcus picked it up, jogged over to his machine and laid the paper on a good spot on the fuselage. After a good three minutes, he tore the paper back. The words "Crystal Vixen" were clearly visible in white paint.
Marcus stood back and admired his handiwork.
"Watch out, Falcon!" he said, clenching his fist. "Here comes Marcus!"
2 days later
"OK, no one told me that almost everyone in the race was a human." Marcus whispered to Chase as they walked through the stands
It was race day. Slippy had picked the boys and the Crystal Vixen early and brought then to the track to get ready, but Marcus was more concerned about who he was up against.
Almost everyone there was a strange creature with no fur on them except on the top of their heads, though some had it on their faces. Their ears were on the sides of their heads instead of on top, and none of them had tails.
"Just try to focus, Mark." Chase said. "Let's face it: you're sort of a newbie at this."
"Yeah…don't remind me." Marcus said.
Suddenly, someone bumped into Marcus.
"Whoops. Sorry about that." the man said as he stepped around Marcus.
The man wore yellow gloves, a pair of golden greaves, a navy blue jacket, and a red helmet with a golden falcon placed on the top.
"Wonder who that was." Marcus questioned.
"OK, just so you remember, I can send you the map data, but any other radio contact is prohibited." Chase said, walking over the rules. "If you go out of bounds, you're immediately disqualified. And, obviously, no weapons."
"Gotcha." Marcus replied.
"OK, I'm headin' up to the stands. Good luck."
Chase ran off. As soon as he was out of earshot, Marcus rolled his eyes.
"That's all I need." he muttered.
"Psst." a voice whispered.
Marcus turned toward the voice.
"W-who said that?" he asked.
"Out here." the voice called quietly.
Marcus stepped behind the massive 300-foot tall bleachers. He looked around. No one was there.
"Perfect! Now I'm hearin' things!" he grumbled.
Suddenly, Marcus felt a rush of wind behind him and a hand on his shoulder.
"Bang." someone coyly whispered into his ear.
For a second, Marcus nearly screamed, thinking that Kursed had already caught up with him. But then he recognized the voice. It wasn't Kursed. It was Coyote!
Marcus turned. The young O'Donnell stood there smiling at him.
"Will wonders never cease." Marcus said, a big grin across his face.
"So you're an F-Zero racer now, I see."
"Yeah. Big cash prize and a Mach 4 converter."
"I didn't mean to scare you, y'know."
"Ah, don't sweat it. But why did you come?"
Coyote smiled again and gently pinched his cheek.
"I guess I just wanted to cheer you on." she said. "After all, I still owe you, right?"
"Uhh…sure. Thanks."
She slyly winked at him as she released his face.
"Good luck, tiger." she said before turning and running away.
"Hey, wait!" Marcus called after her.
Suddenly, Coyote performed a ninja-like jump and disappeared.
"Always on the move." Marcus grumbled. "…'tiger'?"
The announcer's voice blared over the microphone.
"Welcome, everyone, to the F-Zero Grand Prix!"
Everyone in the bleachers cheered.
"Well, here goes nothin'." Marcus said, running back to the entryway.
"And now, here they are! Our F-Zero racers!"
The 32 F-Zero racers walked out of the entryway. Everyone started cheering even louder. The announcer started introducing the racers.
"Introducing the grand master of the Red Canyon, in #5, the Fire Stingray…SAMURAI GOROH!"
A very muscular man wearing a vest and a bandana shot his arms up. More cheering. Marcus didn't catch many more names, but he did hear…
"Here comes the Sureshot Surgeon, in #3, the Golden Fox…DOCTOR STEWART!"
A man in a yellow jumpsuit with spiky hair held up one hand, accepting the applause.
"Announcing the Dark Ruler of the Track, in #30, the Black Bull…BLACK SHADOW!"
A sinister man wearing a black mask over his face and a long black cape pumped his fist. Not a shocker to what happened next.
"And now…the Grand Champion of F-Zero racing, the Bird of Bounty himself, in #7, the Blue Falcon…CAPTAIN FALCON!"
The man who Marcus had bumped into earlier saluted the crowd. They cheered as though the world was going to end.
"So THAT'S Captain Falcon." Marcus thought.
"But now, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to our two newest racers. First, in #31, the Zebes Dagger, is…a racer that did not provide a name. Well, no matter. Let's hear it for her, folks!"
Everyone cheered. The woman in front of Marcus accepted the applause. She was wearing a black leather jumpsuit, along with a biker helmet to hide her face. Whoever it was, it wasn't Coyote. She was too tall and she didn't have a tail.
"And secondly, we have the leader of Corneria's own Star Fox team, in #32, the Crystal Vixen…MARCUS JAMES MCCLOUD!"
Marcus was bewildered when he heard his full name on the speaker, but overjoyed just the same. He threw his fist up. Everyone cheered. He could see his parents and the rest of the Star Fox team cheering, as well. Several girls (some of them even human girls) were swooning.
"Alright, racers! Start your engines!"
Every one of the racers ran to their machines. Marcus jumped into the Crystal Vixen and closed the cockpit door. He looked to his right and saw Captain Falcon sitting in the Blue Falcon, which was directly next to the Crystal Vixen. Cap was grinning and giving Marcus a thumbs-up.
Marcus didn't do anything for a few seconds, but then he realized that Cap was basically saying "Good luck." He grinned back and returned the gesture. Then he locked his eyes on the road. He pressed the ignition button and the machine rose a few inches off the ground, as did all the others. A video screen lowered itself down in front of the starting line and started the countdown.
"Three!" the screen blared
Marcus grabbed the steering wheel.
"Two!"
He rested his foot on the gas pedal.
"One!"
He grinned and…
"GO!"
The thirty-two machines shot forward at 1000 km/h!
"WOOO-HOOOOO!" Marcus joyfully screamed.
The machines all rocketed down a roadway stretching over the Marianas Ocean. Marcus looked onscreen and the map appeared.
"This is where the fun begins." he said, smirking.
Up ahead was the first turn. Marcus pulled the steering wheel over to the right and turned in that direction.
Unbelievable! A perfect turn on the first run!
"Man, we did a good job makin' this thing!"
A ramp was up ahead. Marcus floored the gas pedal. The Crystal Vixen, as well at the other racers accelerated, flew off the ramp and landed flawlessly on the track below.
More turns up ahead. Drifting left, then right, then left again.
Suddenly, the Crystal Vixen lurched forward. Marcus looked back and saw the Death Anchor, driven by a very odd creature named Zoda, was ramming against him, trying to knock him off-course.
"So that's the way you're gonna play it, eh?" Marcus thought. "Well, eat my dust, antenna head!"
Marcus floored the gas pedal again and shot away from his pursuer. He looked at his monitor and saw that he was only in 21st place. He groaned. Up at the front were Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Black Shadow and the woman with the helmet. They were all ramming each other, trying to get into first place. Marcus needed a miracle to get all the way up there…then again, if that DID happen, he'd have a bunch of angry racers ramming his machine to oblivion.
Suddenly, his stomach lurched as his machine went up over a loop. He felt nauseous, but at a time like that, hurling seemed like the last thing he could do.
Another turn was positioned right at the end of the loop. Marcus pulled the steering wheel all the way over and navigated it like nobody's business. #6, the Wild Goose, wasn't so lucky. The machine swerved toward the railing, collided headlong with it and went flying over the edge into the water below.
Another ramp. Acceleration made it easy to get over it. After landing on the track below, the road curved down into a tunnel leading below the ocean's surface. Passing into the long pipe, Marcus flipped on the headlights to help him see. From the Wild Goose getting catapulted off the track, he was now in 16th place. Within a second, the Death Anchor was back on his tail.
"OK, seriously! Is there a big bulls-eye on my ass or something?" Marcus groaned.
He suddenly got an idea. First, he made sure he was lined up perfectly with the Death Anchor. Once he was sure, he slammed the brake pedal. Sure enough, the Death Anchor crashed right into the Crystal Vixen. The impact propelled Marcus forward, while the Death Anchor went flying back into a wall.
10th place. There were still two laps to go, so celebrating now was out of the question. The 30 remaining machines rose out of the pipe onto another loop and then a ramp. The ramp went left, up, right, down, then left and down again.
Suddenly, two machines (the Queen Meteor and the Golden Fox) flew in front of Marcus.
"Aw, come on!"
The track took a sharp dove down, then back up. Another turn and they had finished Lap One.
"Go, Marcus!" Anna screamed. "You can do it!"
"C'mon, Mark!" Falco shouted.
All the Cornerians and quite a few humans all started chanting Marcus' name. Even beings from another galaxy wanted him to win!
Marcus floored the gas pedal again and managed to get in front of the Golden Fox. The Queen Meteor, however, braked and slid back toward him.
"I don't think so!" Marcus yelled.
He turned the steering wheel in a circle, causing the Crystal Vixen to perform a spin attack. The impact launched the Queen Meteor away and off the track.
"Three down, twenty-eight to go."
Marcus floored it again and shot forward into 8th place. Close, but not close enough. The machines went up and over the first loop. One of the other machines, the Sonic Phantom, swerved off to the left just as the loop ended, trying to ram into the Blue Falcon, which had taken the lead. Cap saw it ahead of time and drifted out of the way. The Sonic Phantom crashed into a wall.
The second ramp was still easy. Delving down into the pipe again still made Marcus' stomach lurch, but nonetheless, he handled it quite easily. Passing through the pipe a second time, Marcus managed to shoot ahead of the Black Bull.
Suddenly, the Zebes Dagger came out of nowhere and slid in front of him,
"Where did SHE come from?" Marcus thought.
He didn't have a lot of time to ponder this, as he and the Zebes Dagger were now neck-and-neck. The woman inside turned her head and flipped up her visor so she could get a better look at Marcus. Marcus himself looked over at her. From the small amount of her face that he could see, she was a human with large blue eyes.
The woman seemed to smile, then slyly winked at him. Marcus didn't know whether to feel awkward or flattered, so he just shook his head and focused on the road again.
Suddenly, the Fire Stingray braked back and slammed into the Zebes Dagger. The machines flew out of the pipe, but the Dagger now had a heavy dent in the front. The Fire Stingray lined itself up with the Zebes Dagger on the other side of the track and started swerving toward it.
Marcus had no idea what he was thinking, but he shot between the two machines and used a spin attack to knock the Fire Stingray away.
Samurai Goroh growled. Marcus heard his voice on his communicator.
"Saving the competition? That's not what a REAL man does, McCloud!"
Marcus rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Whoever said I was a man?"
As the machines made the final dive, rise and turn into Lap Three, Marcus was in 2nd place and had only one target remaining: Captain Falcon.
"Well, folks, the racers have entered the final lap, and it appears that #31 has just saved #32 from a heavy beating!"
The woman inside the Zebes Dagger smiled when she heard the announcer's words
"I'll be sure to thank him later." she said to herself.
As the Crystal Vixen and the Blue Falcon reached the first turn, they both drifted around it. As they approached the first ramp, Marcus heard Falcon's voice on the communicator.
"First time racing, kid?" he asked.
Marcus didn't know what to say except "Yeah."
"Not bad for a beginner. But you'll have to pick up the pace if you wanna beat me."
With that, Falcon shot ahead
"Believe me; I'm just getting started!" Marcus said, grinning.
The machines went up and over the first loop. As the road straightened out, the Black Bull flew out of nowhere and smashed into Marcus. The Black Bull was much heavier than the Fire Stingray, so Marcus was utterly defenseless as he was pushed into the wall. Sparks went flying from the side of the Crystal Vixen that was scraping against the steel railing. If it took much more of this, it would surely break down.
As soon as the Black Bull broke away for another attack, Marcus floored the gas pedal and rocketed away. To his surprise, Marcus was still in 2nd place. Likewise, Captain Falcon was still in 1st, but not by that much.
As they entered the tunnel for the third time, Marcus caught sight of another path that no one else had taken yet. He checked the map. The path showed up on it, so technically, he wouldn't be going out of bounds if he took it. After all, shortcuts aren't prohibited. They're just frowned upon...quite frequently.
Marcus made his decision. He swerved off to the left, smashed through a sign over the path that read "DANGER! PATH UNDER CONSTRUCTION!", and shot down the pipe. Apparently, no else had seen him, because he was the only one there.
Grinning with triumph, Marcus navigated his vehicle through the pipe. He was about halfway through, when suddenly…
"Marcus…" a cold voice whispered.
Marcus' body got cold and numb again. He started shivering in fear.
"No…not again!" he panicked.
"Like it or not, I'm always here, especially when you don't see me." Kursed whispered. "I'm not a ghost, Marcus. I'm real."
"…go away!"
That was all he could say as he tore his eyes off the road and shut them tightly.
"So now you think closing your eyes will save you? Stop being such a child. It's just going to get worse the more you try to ignore it."
She wasn't lying. As Marcus continued to look away, he began to feel a burning sensation in his brain Marcus started banging his head against the steering wheel, trying to drown out Kursed's voice. All it did was give him a headache.
Back at the bleachers, Krystal could see everything that was happening on the large video screen that showed Marcus' face.
"My, oh my, folks!" the announcer said. "It seems like #31 is having some sort of nervous breakdown. He's gonna have to pull himself together before he gets hurt!"
Krystal knew what was going on.
"Oh, dear God." she said.
Fox looked at her.
"What's wrong?" he asked
Krystal looked at him.
"It's…her. She's assaulting his mind again."
Quickly, Krystal touched her hands to her ears and closed her eyes.
"What's she doing?" Katt asked.
"My guess is she's establishing a mind link with Marcus." Falco replied.
Anyone who had Krystal's DNA in their blood could have a mind link established with her, meaning she and that person could talk to each other telepathically. Since her DNA had a special code inside it, this obviously meant that she could only use it on Fox and Marcus.
Back in the Crystal Vixen, Marcus was still cowering in fear, his eyes shut tightly, when he heard his mother's voice.
"Marcus! Marcus, can you hear me?" she said.
"Mom? Is that you?" Marcus asked.
"Calm down. Everything's going to be alright. Keep your eyes on the road."
Marcus heard Kursed growl.
"You! Damn you, you filthy traitor! Don't get in my way or you'll share this little brat's fate!"
"That's my son you're talking about, you heartless wench! Now shut up and leave him alone, or you're gonna have to deal with me!" Krystal retorted
Kursed grunted.
"Fine. You win for now…but trust me; leaving me in the dirt was the biggest mistake of your pathetic life!"
The voices stopped. Marcus opened his eyes and saw that he was careening straight at a large, broken, steel I-beam that was bigger than the Crystal Vixen.
"Uh oh!" Marcus exclaimed.
Suddenly, a streak of blue locked onto one side of the Crystal Vixen and straightened it out. As Marcus started driving down the track again, he looked at the thing that had just saved him. It was the Blue Falcon!
"Follow me, kid." Captain Falcon said from inside the machine.
Falcon swerved of to the left. Marcus followed. A bright circle of light indicated the end of the tunnel. The two machines shot out the end and landed at the front of the pack.
"Let's wrap this up nice and smoothly." Falcon said.
Marcus nodded. Both machines flew forward.
"And thanks to some heroic efforts by Captain Falcon," the announcer said. '#31 has made it out in one piece. As the Blue Falcon and the Crystal Vixen approach the finish line, they're neck-and-neck!"
The finish line was just in sight. Marcus had already pushed the gas pedal all the way down. So had Falcon.
"And the winner is…"
The two machines rocketed past the finish line and immediately came to a stop. A snapshot appeared. The announcer looked carefully at it and saw that the winner, who had won by just barely an inch, was…
"Marcus!"
The crowd went wild. Marcus hopped out of the Crystal Vixen and looked at the leader-board. He was at the top. Captain Falcon was 2nd. The woman in the Zebes Dagger was 3rd.
"Wha…I won?" he stammered.
Fox and Krystal ran out on to the track and hugged Marcus so tightly he felt like his head would pop off.
"That's my boy!" Fox cheered.
"You did it, sweetheart!" Krystal said, with joyful tears in her eyes.
"I guess we're all surprised, then." Marcus said, smirking and rolling his eyes.
Right at that moment, someone tapped on Marcus' shoulder. He turned. It was Captain Falcon, and he was smiling. He held out his hand.
"Good race."
Marcus grinned and shook his hand.
"Sorry about slowing you down back there." Marcus said.
Falcon grinned even more.
"Ah, don't worry about it. It's high time I got beaten at my own game. Besides, better a strapping young dog like you than Samurai Goroh, right?"
Here they both laughed. Suddenly, Marcus felt like he was being watched. He turned around. The woman he rescued from Goroh was coming toward him.
"Uhh…can I help you?" Marcus asked.
"So you're the big winner, I'm assuming." the woman asked.
"…yeah."
"I really appreciate what you did for me back there. I just came over to show my gratitude."
"Uhh…sure, no problem…who are you, anyway?"
The woman smiled.
"I thought you'd never ask."
She felt at the zipper of her black jumpsuit and unzipped it. Underneath, she wore another bodysuit, only this one was light-blue and had odd red markings on it. Then, the woman took off her helmet. She had deep blue eyes, and her long blonde hair was up in a ponytail.
Marcus couldn't believe who he was looking at. Everyone cheered.
"Samus Aran?" Marcus asked in a stupefied voice.
Samus grinned at him. She was about a head taller than him, and she looked incredibly radiant (and that was despite the fact that she was wearing a skintight jumpsuit!). Marcus felt extremely nervous that the most renowned bounty hunter in the universe was smiling warmly at him.
"Just so you know, it's not often that I get rescued. I guess there's only one way to thank you." Samus said.
She leaned over and gently kissed Marcus' nose. He flushed bright red. Chase, Anna, Katt and Falco had come down from the bleachers to congratulate Marcus, but as soon as they caught an eyeful of him, they burst out laughing.
"You're not shy, are you, Mark?" asked Chase.
Everyone except Marcus (who was still blushing) laughed.
"Uhh…I'm fine…just fine." he stammered.
"Will the winners of 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place please proceed to the podium?"
Falcon, Marcus and Samus stepped onto the gold-and-silver platform.
"In 3rd place, Samus Aran!"
Samus waved to the crowd. Out came cheering loud enough to shatter a window.
"In 2nd place, Captain Douglas Jay Falcon!"
Falcon saluted the crowd. Even more cheering.
"And in 1st place, the winner of the 100,000 cash prize and the Mach 4 speed converter, Marcus James McCloud!"
Marcus shot his arm up. Loudest cheer yet. The next thing Marcs knew he was holding a gigantic trophy with 100,000 dollars inside, and Chase was standing next to him ogling the Mach 4 converter in his hands.
Falcon touched his fingers to his helmet. A loud beep was heard, and large blue-and-yellow ship was flying over the stadium. The Blue Falcon was lifted inside.
"You win this time, Marcus." he said. "But keep training. I'll be back next year."
Marcus grinned. "You can count on it."
A large beam came down from the Falcon Flyer, and Captain Falcon was warped inside. The ship jumped to light speed and disappeared. Samus touched a button on the armlet she wore. The Zebes Dagger instantly became a gunship about the size of two Arwings put together.
"You're pretty cool in my book, Mark." Samus said to Marcus. "We've gotta do this again sometime."
She patted Marcus' head, then jumped on top of the ship. A hatch opened up underneath her and she sank inside, which then rose off the ground and shot to light speed. Marcus stood there, utterly speechless.
"Wow, just…wow." he thought
"Samus Aran and Captain Falcon, huh?" said Fox. "Well, I guess you better keep training for next year's race. They certainly won't hold back next time."
Marcus pulled himself together and smiled.
"They'll be back…and I'll be ready!"
Yes, I just crossed Star Fox over with Metroid and F-Zero. Why?...BECAUSE I CAN! MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!